FirstStepsInvesting

Empty Account

I Opened a Traditional IRA — Now What?

Same freeze as the Roth, different tax end. The account is a bucket; the money inside is still cash until you choose what it holds. The Traditional IRA gives its possible tax break at contribution time and taxes withdrawals in retirement instead.

The printed facts

Finish the job, in order

  1. Confirm which tax year your deposit is labeled for — IRA contributions carry a year, and the label is the tax law's whole game.
  2. Find where the cash is parked inside the account (settlement or money market position).
  3. Choose a category below and place the order, in dollars.
  4. Automate the monthly contribution. The deduction question is settled at tax time, not at the trade screen.

The categories in front of you

Every reader sees the same three categories. This page teaches the kinds — it never picks one for you. Picking one for you, from your situation, is what advisers are licensed to do.

Target-date funds

One fund built around a year — roughly your retirement year. It holds a mix of stock and bond funds and slowly shifts steadier as the year approaches. Different companies run theirs differently and charge differently.

Broad index funds

Funds that copy a published list — for example, a list of large US companies, or a list spanning the whole stock market — instead of picking winners. Usually the lowest yearly cost on the menu, because copying is cheap to run.

Money market funds

Cash-like funds holding very short-term loans. Steady value, modest yield, barely any movement. This is where uninvested money often sits — parked, not growing.

Six questions readers use to compare

Check my place in the order

Settlement fund (core position), in plain wordsExpense ratio, in plain wordsContribution limit, in plain words

Included in the $39 First Steps Pack

The Filled Plan pack, the first-account walkthrough pack, the first-30-days plan, the full catch-up tables, the decoder card deck, and the order workbook — one pack, one-time payment.

See the First Steps Pack