Definition
An account that is established for the purpose of saving for retirement.
Retirement accounts can include features such as:
- Tax-deferred growth on earnings
- Tax-free growth on earnings
- And earnings that are taxed for the year in which the earnings are accrued- commonly referred to as after-tax accounts.
Referring Cites
IRC § 408(a), IRC § 408A, IRC § 401(a), IRC § 403(a), IRC § 403(b), IRC § 457(b)
Additional Helpful Information
Tax-deferred retirement savings include:
- traditional IRAs,
- SEP IRAs,
- SIMPLE IRAs,
- qualified plans-except for a designated Roth account that is a Roth 401(k) ,
- 403(b) accounts except for a designated Roth account that is a Roth 403(b), 403(a) annuity plan , and
- 457(b) governmental plans
Tax-free retirement savings accounts include:
- Designated Roth accounts where the owner is eligible for a qualified distribution and
- Roth IRAs where the owner is eligible for a qualified distribution.
After-tax accounts include regular savings accounts
