Best IRA Accounts In 2026

An IRA is one of the most popular ways to invest for retirement. Not only are you saving for your future, but you’re getting a generous tax advantage to do it. And you can open an account online in just a few minutes.

One of the best opportunities for amassing a nest egg is by investing in stocks and bonds, and to do that you’ll need to open your IRA at a brokerage account or robo-advisor:

• A brokerage account gives you full control over your portfolio, meaning you can choose investments that include individual stocks, stock mutual funds and ETFs, bonds and more.
• A robo-advisor will build a portfolio for you, picking the investments based on your risk tolerance and time horizon.

Whether you want to do it yourself or have someone do it for you (or somewhere in between), here are some of the top IRA accounts to open.

Best IRA accounts to open in 2025

Top IRA accounts in 2026

Here are some of the best brokers and robo-advisors to consider for an IRA account, based on Bankrate’s in-depth research methodology.

Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab does all the core brokerage functions well, and it has a long-time reputation for investor-friendliness. If you want stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs or even CDs in your IRA, Schwab will be able to get the job done. In fact, Schwab offers thousands of mutual funds with no transaction fees. Plus, with commission-free trades and quick customer service, the broker regularly rates among the top in the industry. Of course, if you want to be a more active investor, you can access Schwab’s flagship trading platform, thinkorswim, and get your trade on.

A great fit for: Investors who want to actively or passively manage their IRA.

Wealthfront

Wealthfront is a top robo-advisor, and it can construct your retirement portfolio based on your risk tolerance and when exactly you need the money. Wealthfront automatically rebalances your portfolio so that your allocations stay on target. You can also access a sophisticated goal-based planner (even if you don’t have your IRA here) as well as a fully featured cash management account. If you open an IRA with Wealthfront, the management fee is a reasonable 0.25% per year, or $25 for every $10,000 invested, and you’ll pay the expense ratio for ETFs held in your portfolio, as you would anywhere.

A great fit for: Investors who want a professionally-managed portfolio at a low cost.

Fidelity Investments

Fidelity is one of the best overall brokers, and you can see it across everything they do: friendly and helpful customer service, a policy of not hitting you for every possible nickel and dime for services and a wide selection of investments (including thousands of mutual funds available without a transaction fee). Active traders may be happy that, in 2025, Fidelity launched Fidelity Trader+, which it calls its most powerful trading experience yet. It also doesn’t hurt that the broker charges no account fees or minimums to open a retail IRA account. Fidelity does it all at a high level, and you’re not likely to be disappointed.

A great fit for: Investors who want to be active traders or invest passively.

Vanguard

Vanguard is a great choice for its low-cost mutual funds. You can find its mutual funds at other brokers, but you may get hit with mutual fund transaction fees at other brokers.

Vanguard is a great fit if you’re a passive investor. And, like most major brokers, it has reduced online trading commissions for stocks and ETFs to zero.

A great fit for: Investors who want to manage their IRA passively, especially with Vanguard funds.

Betterment

If you’re content to let someone else manage your IRA, then Betterment will likely be a good fit. If your account balance exceeds $24,000 or you make a monthly recurring deposit of $250 or more, you’ll pay one low, flat fee of 0.25% (otherwise you’ll pay $5 per month).

For that flat fee of 0.25%, this robo-advisor will manage your portfolio from start to finish, and all you’ll need to do is add money. You’ll get valuable features such as tax-loss harvesting and automatic rebalancing for no extra charge. And if you bring $100,000 or more to the account and pay a fee of 0.65%, you’ll be able to talk with human advisors for all your detailed questions.

A great fit for: Investors who want a robo-advisor to manage their IRA for them, or who may want access to a human financial planner from time to time.

Interactive Brokers

Interactive Brokers is a brokerage that gives you ample access to the world’s markets, so if you want a “go anywhere” outfit, this is for you. Interactive Brokers has long been known as a broker for serious active traders, though of course you don’t have to be one to open your IRA here. Opt for the brokerage’s Pro platform, known for its top execution, or go for the Lite platform, where your trades are free. Either way, you’ll be investing with one of the world’s most secure institutions.

A great fit for: Investors who trade actively and want access to all kinds of markets.

Schwab Intelligent Portfolios

Schwab brings its investor-friendly reputation to Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, a robo-advisor that manages your IRA with a personalized portfolio. You’ll enjoy Schwab’s management fee — $0 — and its low-cost ETFs, as well as its well-regarded customer service, which is available all day, every day. To open an account, however, you’ll need to invest a minimum of $5,000.

While the company is discontinuing the Premium tier of Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, which offered access to human financial advisors for a higher fee, robo-advisor customers can still get one-off help from Schwab’s U.S.-based service professionals.

A great fit for: Investors looking for low-cost professional management.

Merrill Edge

As a Merrill Edge customer, you’ll benefit from the brokerage’s robust offerings and access to stock research, as well as strong customer service. Plus, Merrill is a great choice if you’re likely to need in-person assistance, because parent company Bank of America offers a Merrill rep at thousands of branches, a true competitive edge. Another edge: If you’re already one of the bank’s customers, it’s just easier to have your financial business all in one place.

A great fit for: Investors who want to trade actively or passively, or may need the help of a human advisor.

Fundrise

If you’re looking to do something off the beaten path with your IRA, then Fundrise might be for you. Fundrise lets you use your IRA to invest in real estate, venture capital and private credit. These types of private assets typically aren’t available to retirement savers at brokers or robo-advisors, and they may fit nicely in an IRA since they tend to crank out cash that would otherwise be taxable.

Fundrise is best known for offering REITs, which allow investors to access a diversified real estate portfolio and earn dividends. While the money you save for retirement should be viewed as a long-term investment in general, be aware that you may have to lock in your money for years at Fundrise, so it may not be for everyone. But for those investors looking to invest in private markets such as real estate, Fundrise could be an attractive option.

A great fit for: Investors who want to invest in real estate.

E-Trade

Like other major brokers, E-Trade offers commission-free trading of stocks and ETFs, but it’s also a great choice for mutual funds. In fact, E-Trade offers more than 6,000 mutual funds without a transaction fee. E-Trade is another do-it-all broker, great for the active trader (thanks to its volume discounts on option trading and the Power E-Trade platform), as well as the passive investor thinking long term (third-party research).

A great fit for: Investors who want to actively or passively invest.

Firstrade

Firstrade is popular with traders because of its commission-free trading of stocks, ETFs and options, but the broker also has a lot to offer those saving for retirement. Firstrade offers more than 11,000 no-transaction-fee mutual funds and you’ll be able to open nearly any type of IRA account you want, including SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, which aren’t offered by all brokers. There’s also a solid research offering including free access to Morningstar reports.

A great fit for: Investors who want to actively or passively invest.

Fidelity Go

If you’re looking to take a more hands-off approach to your portfolio, Fidelity Go is another robo-advisor option to consider. There’s no fee for accounts with less than $25,000. The fee is 0.35% above that threshold, but that fee comes with the added benefit of  unlimited one-on-one coaching calls. The portfolios are built using Fidelity funds that don’t charge expense ratios, so you won’t have to worry about the mutual fund and ETF fees you’ll face at most robo-advisors. You’ll also get the full benefits of being a Fidelity customer, which includes top-notch educational resources and 24/7 customer service.

A great fit for: Investors looking for a low-cost professionally managed portfolio and access to coaching.

The IRA: What you need to know

With a traditional IRA, you can get a tax break for the contributions you make each year, which reduces your taxable income. You’ll also enjoy tax-deferred growth on your investments until you withdraw the money from the account at retirement, defined as age 59½ or older.

It’s useful to think of the IRA as a “shield” or “wrapper” that protects your money from taxes until you withdraw the money. Many financial companies offer IRAs, including banks, brokerages, insurance companies and robo-advisors, and each may allow you to make various kinds of investments within your IRA.

What you invest in determines what you’ll ultimately earn in your IRA. That is, the IRA is an account wrapper that offers tax benefits — what you earn depends on your investments. If you’re invested in historically high-return assets such as stocks, you’ll likely do better over time than if you’re in CDs and bonds. However, there’s a trade-off to keep in mind: Higher-performing investments require you to take on more risk, while safer assets generally fluctuate less, or in some cases (such as CDs) don’t fluctuate at all.

How to open an IRA account

You have multiple options for opening an IRA account, including going to a brokerage or robo-advisor. These providers have made it easy to open an account quickly, and you could have your IRA set up in 15 minutes or less. Simply walk through the opening steps on the provider’s site.

1. Pick an IRA provider. The hardest part might be choosing a broker or robo-advisor to go with. Check out our top picks above to find the best provider for you. You could also review our best robo-advisors and best brokers for more on each company.
2. Open an account. Once you’ve selected your brokerage or robo-advisor, you’ll need to provide some personal and financial details, including your legal name, address, Social Security number, your employer and a few other details to open your account.
3. Connect your bank. After opening the account, you can then connect your bank to the account and fund your IRA. It really is that simple.

What’s the difference between an IRA and a Roth IRA?

An IRA (or a traditional IRA) and a Roth IRA are both tax-advantaged accounts that help you save for retirement. Some of the key differences revolve around the specific tax benefits and which account works best in different circumstances:

• With a traditional IRA, you contribute pre-tax income to your account, allowing you to deduct the contributions from your income (assuming you qualify). Those contributions then grow tax-deferred until you withdraw them during retirement, at which point they become taxable income.
• With a Roth IRA, you don’t get an up-front tax break. You simply contribute money each year, and those contributions grow tax-free inside the account. All of your money — your contributions and any investment or interest earnings — are tax-free when you withdraw them in retirement. You can take contributions (but not earnings) out of your Roth IRA at any time without penalties or taxes. Be sure to check the Roth IRA income limits to confirm you can contribute.

The traditional IRA generally is a better choice when you’re older or earning more, because you can avoid income taxes at higher rates on today’s income. It’s a good choice when you think tax rates (or your rate) are going to fall in the future, so that you pay lower rates on future withdrawals. However, keep in mind that if you (or your spouse if you’re married) have a retirement plan at work, then there are relatively low income limits that determine the deductibility of your traditional IRA contributions.

The Roth IRA is typically a better choice when you’re younger or earning less — and thus in a lower tax bracket — because you forgo only the small tax break on contributions that you would receive from a traditional IRA. A Roth IRA may also be better if you expect tax rates (or your tax rate) to rise in the future, increasing the value of the Roth’s tax-free withdrawals. The Roth IRA also gives heirs tax-free withdrawals.

The 3 most common types of IRAs

• Traditional IRA: A traditional IRA allows you to make pretax contributions, which can lower your tax bill today. Withdrawals made during retirement will be taxed, however, making this a good choice if you think your tax rate will fall in the future.
• Roth IRA: In a Roth IRA, contributions are made with after-tax dollars, meaning you’ll get no tax benefit today. But during retirement, all withdrawals are tax-free and you won’t be required to take minimum distributions either, as you are with a traditional IRA.
• Rollover IRA: A rollover IRA is the account you create when you convert a 401(k) plan from a previous employer into an IRA. Rollover IRAs are not subject to the IRA income and contribution limits.

When should you open an IRA?

There’s really never a bad time to open an IRA, but the sooner you do it, the better off you’ll be in meeting your retirement goals. Roth IRAs are particularly attractive for people early in their careers as they are more likely to be in a lower tax bracket than in future years. Contributions made during your 20s and 30s can go a long way toward reaching your goals due to the power of compounding.

Whether you opt for a traditional or Roth IRA, you can contribute up to $7,500 in 2026, up from $7,000 in 2025. If you’re age 50 or older, you can contribute an extra $1,100 in 2026, up from $1,000 in 2025.

You can contribute for the 2025 tax year until April 15, 2026.

How to transfer an IRA to a new broker

Don’t like your IRA provider? It’s easy to switch your IRA, and you can do so for any reason and at virtually any time. It’s best to transfer your IRA directly from one broker to another.

The steps to transfer your IRA are straightforward:

1. Open a new IRA account, which will receive the transfer of your current IRA.
2. Contact your new provider about a transfer. You may be able to transfer your IRA online without any human help, but a customer representative can also help you, if needed.
3. Complete the transfer forms, typically online or on paper. You’ll need to provide details such as the old provider and account number. If you have investments in your old IRA, your old provider may charge you a fee to move them to the new account.

A few days later, securities and cash in your old account will appear in your new account.

You need to be careful when transferring an IRA, because you could create a tax bill if you switch IRA types from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. In general, you want to keep the same kind of account. That is, you’ll want to transfer funds from a traditional IRA to another or from a Roth IRA to another, rather than from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

If you’re changing account types, it could create significant tax liabilities.

— Anna-Louise Jackson contributed to an update of this article.