Chase Bank IRA Review

Chase Bank IRA review 2024: Roth IRA, SEP, Simple, 401K, traditional IRA, rollover. Chase IRA account rates, cost, fees, offer.

About Chase IRAs

Chase offers their clients more than banking. Investment advisors at Chase use securities and other investment tools licensed through J.P. Morgan Securities to help investors achieve their financial goals. Everyone has different objectives when it comes to their retirement so the choice, strategy and solutions an advisor will offer will differ for each individual.

At Chase, the annual fee is waived for an IRA when a client owns a Chase checking account. Most Chase retirement products will offer different rates and fees based on the amount of money being invested, how it will be invested and the length of the investment. For that reason not all exact fees and rates are listed in this review. This is an overview of what products are available to meet certain goals, a list of pros and cons for each product as well as a range of possible fees or interest rates when possible.

Chase IRA Products

1) Mutual Funds: the goal of a mutual fund is to diversify an investment portfolio. The funds can have high to low risk. A fund is a financial instrument that pools its member’s capital to buy a diverse group of stocks or bonds.

2) Annuities: are meant for someone looking for a steady stream of income when they retire. The type of annuity a person gets into will depend on their age, goals and initial investment.

3) Stocks: are riskier. If someone wants to include stocks into their investment portfolio they will need to be evaluated for their ability to handle the risk of a loss. Chase advisors will ask a series of questions to determine if stocks are right for a client to own.

4) CD’s: Also known as a certificate of deposits, have specific fixed interest rate for a specified period of time. The CD is held until maturity. Once maturity is reached, the funds can be withdrawn together with the accrued interest.

5) Professionally Managed Accounts: are accounts with many different products designed to reduce risk and help meet an investment goal. Fees and expenses may be included in a managed account. At Chase, the minimum required to have this type of account is $50,000.

6) Money Markets: are savings accounts with a higher interest rate than a regular savings account, and usually higher deposits are required. In addition, money markets only allow a limited number of withdrawals from the account every month. This product is great for no risk savings and for people who want to earn interest on money they may need immediately for an emergency with no penalties for withdrawal.

Pros and Cons for Each Chase IRA

1) Mutual Funds:

Pro: A potential higher rate of return over a CD or money market.
Con: Fees can be included in owning a mutual fund and there is a risk, degree of which depending on the fund invested.

2) Variable or Fixed Annuities:

Pro: It grows on tax-deferred basis (there are no taxes until you withdraw).
Con: If you need to access money earlier, there are penalties. Annuities have a surrender period, meaning you cannot touch it for a certain period of time. It can be fixed or variable, and it can also have expenses. Fixed annuities have lower fees than variable. Variable annuities have the chance to offer a higher rate of return.

3) Stocks:

Pro: Stocks offer an opportunity for a higher appreciation in value over fixed investments, and clients can get dividends that can be paid out or reinvested
Con: High risk associated with owning stocks.

4) CD’s:

Pro: May have a higher rate in an IRA because the term is longer. There is little to no risk.
Con: If you need access within the term of the CD, there are penalties.

5) Professionally Managed Accounts:

Pro: A manager is hired to manage a client’s investments, and that manager will have discretion over all trades in the account. Trades can be in stocks, bonds and other investments.
Con: The expense to manage the account. Less control for client. Expense depends on amount of money invested and the portfolio composition. Starting investment is $50,000.

6) Money Markets:

Pro: higher rate than a savings account but difference is not that big.
Con: Interest rate is in between a savings and CD account.

Chase IRA Fees and Rates

1) Mutual Funds: There are hundreds of funds to choose from and the rate of return differs for each fund. There are few different ways to get into this investment. The most common is meant for the long term, and a client pays a fee upfront ranging from 3.5 percent to 5.75 percent of amount invested. This is called a "front load fee". For a short-term option, there is no fee to get into the fund but there is a fee if you withdraw cash within first year. That early withdrawal fee is percentage of investment. The expense on a mutual fund is less on a long term option.

2) Annuities: standard fees from 1.5% to 3% annually, depending on many different variables.

3) Stocks: each stock has different price.

4) CD’s: rates right now are 0.25% for a year.

5) Professionally Managed Accounts: depends on many different variables.

6) Money Markets: rates are 0.10%

As you see these rates are lower than inflation which is currently about 2.40%.

Conclusion

JP Morgan Chase is the largest in the world for asset management for the last five years and was in the top five percent for the last ten years. Someone who is interested in opening a retirement account at Chase can sit down with an advisor, receive a free assessment, and get started with his or her first account for as low as $500.

As you see, the rates you get on your investments with Chase IRAs are extremely low, and the fees Chase is charging customers are sky-high.

If you are not excited about paying Chase's IRA fees, there are great, well-known, highly rated brokerage firms available offering no-fee IRAs, plenty of investment choices (including no-load, commission-free mutual funds) and very reasonable pricing, such as TD Ameritrade (IRA review) or Coinbase (is it safe?).