Making Your Way Through All Those IRA Fees

A while back I wrote about good funds that have a low minimum investment for IRAs, and a number of readers wrote back to say, "Forget low minimums; I want an IRA with low fees!" My simple advice is shop around. A lot of different fee structures are out there, so you should be able to find one that won’t charge any fees for your level of investment. By the way, Morningstar has threeIRA calculatorsthat can help you figure out how much you can contribute, which type of IRA is right for you and whether you should convert a traditional IRA into a Roth.

Here’s a quick look at what some of the biggest no-load shops charge for Roth IRAs.

Fidelity
At Fidelity, there are two ways to avoid fees. First, you can invest more than $2,000 in a Fidelity fund. If you invest in a non-Fidelity fund through Fidelity’s no-transaction-fee supermarket, Fidelity will waive its $50 fee if you agree to have your statements sent via e-mail.

Janus
If you buy a Janus fund directly for your Roth IRA, Janus won’t charge you a fee.

Schwab
Schwab has a new fee schedule that will go into effect October 1. For accounts with less than $10,000, the fee is $50 a year. If your account is between $10,000 and $50,000, the fee is $40. If it’s more than $50,000, there is no fee.

Strong
Strong will charge you $10 a year unless you have $10,000 in Strong IRA accounts or more than $100,000 in any type of Strong account.

T. Rowe Price
T. Rowe’s fees are a little different. In an IRA account, each fund with less than $5,000 in assets gets nicked for $10 a year.

TIAA-CREF
Like Janus, there are no fees here.

Vanguard
Vanguard charges $10 a year if you have less than $5,000 in your IRA account. However, if you have more than $50,000 overall with Vanguard, the fee is waived.