Individual
Retirement Accounts
The key word in the phrase "Individual Retirement Account" is
individual.
In other words, if you want your retirement to live up to your
financial expectations, you can rely on one individual: you.
Today, you won't find many employers who will completely fund your
retirement for you. It's unlikely that you will spend your entire
career working for one company. That's why an IRA is so important.
With an IRA, you can make tax-favored contributions for yourself
from the first year you begin working until the age of 70 and 1/2.
And, during both your working years and your retirement, you can
manage your IRA assets according to your personal needs and
circumstances.
IRA Questions and Answers:
Q. What is an Individual Retirement Account and how does it
work?
A. An IRA gives you the chance to set up a tax-favored
retirement account for yourself and your beneficiaries. Typically,
your IRA is created as a trust or a custodial account with a bank
acting as your trustee or custodian. And each year, you can make IRA
contributions, which are held and invested for your benefit until
you are ready to receive them in retirement.
Q. How do I qualify to open an Individual Retirement Account?
A. All you have to do is earn compensation. This compensation
can be in the form of wages, salary, commissions, tips, professional
fees, bonuses or other amounts in return for service. (All taxable
alimony and separate maintenance payments received by an individual
under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance are treated as
compensation for IRA purposes.) You can also set up an IRA if you
work for yourself and have income either from a sole proprietorship
or a partnership (assuming you are an active partner who provides
services to the partnership).
For more information about IRA's, please fill out our account
package request form and specify that you would like information
about Individual Retirement Accounts.