Using an IRA as a Brokerage Account
by
Gregory Grant
Whether traditional IRAs or Roth IRAs are used, Individual Retirement Accounts have always been a valuable tool when looking towards retirement. In fact, most people have several IRAs spread among different financial institutions, often, with limited investment options. But instead of trying to manage several IRAs that have accumulated over the course of a career, investors have another option -- an IRA brokerage account.
"A brokerage account allows them to do everything under one roof," says Subha Barry of Merrill Lynch. "You go to a brokerage house and they are going to be able to offer you the money markets, the CDs, the stocks, the bonds, anything that you're looking for. So it alleviates the need for you to have 4 or 5 different accounts for each style of investing. It allows you to have everything under one roof."
The restrictions that limit how an IRA can be invested don't exist with a brokerage account, since any publicly traded investment can be placed in it and grow tax deferred.
"There is no restriction whatsoever," says Barry. "The government and the IRS do put in some restrictions as to what they can and cannot place inside the IRA account, but within a brokerage account there is pretty much a broad range of products and services that you can then place in an IRA account."
Trying to keep track of several IRAs can be a complicated and time-consuming ordeal. Consolidating IRAs in a brokerage account can help simplify retirement planning and, at the same time, increase your retirement investment potential.
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When to sell a stock is as important as when to buy a stock. The investor that goes beyond just looking at the financial pages will find that this kind of in-depth research will pay off in helping to make wiser investment choices.