Robinhood IRA Promotion
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Robinhood IRA Promo Explained
The Robinhood IRA promotion is an offer by Robinhood to match 1% of the eligible contributions that you make to your Robinhood IRA. For example, if you are under the age of 50 and you contribute the maximum annual amount of $6,500 to your Robinhood IRA for 2023, Robinhood will reward you with an extra $65 cash into your IRA.
Does this mean Robinhood is giving out free money? Yes, but there are, of course, rules and limitations. For example, you have to hold your IRA contribution amounts in your IRA for at least 5 years or Robinhood may take back your match rewards. Continue reading to get all the details and the most important questions about the promotion answered.
Who is Eligible for the Robinhood IRA Promotion?
Both new and existing Robinhood customers are eligible for the Robinhood IRA promotion. Robinhood offers Traditional and Roth IRAs and contributions into either are eligible for the matching promotion. Whether you are eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA or Traditional IRA and figuring out which account is better for you depends on IRS rules and income limits for each type of IRA.
If you are not sure which IRA type you are eligible for or which account would be better for you, Robinhood does include a comparison guide and information about income limits to help you figure out the right type of IRA for you when you are going through the process of getting a new IRA set up.
How Does the Robinhood IRA Promotion Work?
Whether you are an existing Robinhood customer or a brand-new Robinhood customer, your first step is to open an IRA. You can open one Roth IRA and one Traditional IRA with Robinhood. You can easily open an IRA in the Robinhood app by tapping the menu icon with the two overlapping rings, as seen in the screenshot below.
Your next step is to make sure you have an external bank account linked to your Robinhood account. This is critical because one of the requirements to qualify for the promotion is that you have to make your contributions to your Robinhood IRA from an external bank account. Contributions made from a Robinhood brokerage or spending account do not count towards earning a match through the promotion.
Once you have your Robinhood IRA(s) opened and your external bank account linked, simply start making contributions to your IRA account from your external bank account. You can do one-time transfers, or you can set up recurring transfers. Whether you contribute the full annual maximum amount in one transfer or you make contribution amounts throughout the year that only add up to $2,000, you will receive a 1% match cash reward in your Robinhood IRA for the total amount that you contribute.
You don’t have to do anything special to claim the match reward - the cash shows up directly in your IRA account automatically. You will receive your match reward within approximately one week from when you make your contribution.
How Much Money Can I Make from the Robinhood IRA Promotion?
Any amounts deposited into your Robinhood IRAs from rolling over 401ks or transferring external IRAs do not count towards the matching promotion. Only new IRA contribution money from an external bank account counts toward receiving a match for the promotion.
Per IRS rules in 2023, the total maximum annual contribution limit for all your combined IRAs, including your Robinhood IRAs and any external IRAs, is $6,500 if you are under the age of 50 and $7,500 if you are over the age of 50. Therefore, the maximum amount you can earn for the promotion for 2023 is $65 if you are under 50 and $75 if you are over 50.
The good news is that Robinhood is counting prior-year contributions for the promotion as well. So, if you haven’t made any contributions to IRAs for 2022, you are in luck. You, generally, have up until the tax filing deadline of April 18th, 2023 to contribute up to the maximum annual limit of $6,000 to your IRAs for the tax year 2022. If you are under 50, by taking advantage of the maximum annual IRA contribution limits for 2022 and 2023, you could earn a total matching cash reward of $125 through the Robinhood IRA promotion.
5-Year Contribution Holding Period
For each contribution you make, that earns you a match, you have to hold at least that contribution amount in your IRA for 5 years after the date of the contribution to keep your match. Let’s take a look at an example.
Let’s say you contribute $5,000 to your Robinhood IRA on January 31st, 2023 and you get a $50 match reward. Then, your IRA account value grows to $8,000 by 2025. At that time, you have an emergency come up and need to withdraw $2,000 from your account, leaving your total IRA balance at $6,000. Because you still have at least your $5,000 original contribution in your IRA, you will continue to keep your $50 match reward. However, if you were to then transfer that remaining $6,000 out of Robinhood any time prior to meeting your original contribution’s 5-year aging period on January 31st, 2028, you would forfeit your $50 match reward.
Other Important Details About the Promotion
Robinhood doesn’t currently state any deadline or expiration date for this IRA match promotion. So, you could presumably continue taking advantage of this promotion every year until Robinhood says differently.
The IRA match doesn’t count toward your annual IRA contribution limit. Robinhood states that the match cash reward is treated as interest income within your IRA. Therefore, the match amount is not reportable on a 1099-INT for the tax year that you receive it. Robinhood recommends consulting with a tax advisor however, they say that the match reward amounts generally would be taxable when taking a distribution from your IRA.
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Robinhood IRA Promo
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