J.P. Morgan IRA Review

The way I see it, there are two main reasons you’d open an individual retirement account at J.P. Morgan. But before we go there, let me be clear that when I say J.P. Morgan, I also mean Chase, because the two companies are one and the same and, essentially, synonymous. If you open an IRA with J.P. Morgan, you’ll sign into Chase.com to access your account.

One reason to open an IRA here is that you’re already a Chase Bank customer and you like the idea of all of your accounts in one place. The other is J.P. Morgan’s Wealth Plan, which is a pretty cool financial planning tool — possibly the best planning tool I’ve come across, and I’m a glutton for these things.

But neither of those reasons are compelling enough, in my opinion, to overcome the often highly annoying online experience at J.P. Morgan.

J.P. Morgan IRA pros & cons

Retirement account types

Want a traditional, Roth or rollover IRA? J.P. Morgan’s got you.

Beyond that, I’d suggest looking elsewhere. While there are also inherited IRAs and SEP IRAs on offer, it’s tough to find any information about them. The only mention I saw was on the form you fill out when rolling money from another retirement account, like a 401(k), to your new IRA at J.P. Morgan. And I have yet to find any mention of custodial IRAs. Believe me, I looked.

Same goes for spousal IRAs: There’s no mention of these at J.P. Morgan. That said, if you’re a married couple and only one of you works for pay, you may well qualify — all you have to do is each open an IRA and one will be considered a “spousal IRA” by the IRS. (Scroll down to “spousal IRAs” on this IRS page for details.)

Website and mobile app: This is my biggest beef with my J.P. Morgan aka Chase IRA: The websites — and there are many! — are irritating, and the mobile app, while better, still doesn’t answer all of my questions.

It’s no surprise that a company founded two centuries ago may have some, erm, legacy hurdles to overcome. This company has acquired, merged and morphed itself into several banking superlatives (largest U.S. bank, etc.), and the remnants of so many other companies are under the J.P. Morgan Chase roof (First Republic, Washington Mutual, and Bear Stearns, to name a few), it’s perhaps no surprise the web experience is… a lot.

So prepare yourself for the sometimes challenging experience of interacting with the numerous websites, apps, and company names you’ll come across in your J.P. Morgan Chase adventures.

Here’s just one example: After opening my IRA account, I wanted to know if there was an annual account fee. The websites weren’t helpful, so I tried — three times! — to use the “secure messaging” tool (there’s no chat function on the website). Each time, the tool conked out and wouldn’t let me finish typing my message. Irritating.

To be fair, the next day I received a response, which included this helpful note: “Please be aware your message only contained this letter: 'd'. Please provide us more details so we can assist you further."

Unlike the website, the mobile app offers a chat function, but when I asked my question about fees, the chatbot replied: “It sounds like you’re asking about fees, and I can’t help with those just yet.”

J.P. Morgan IRA fees

I did ultimately find that one thing J.P. Morgan does get right is fees. If you stick with a self-directed IRA account and make your investment purchases online rather than calling them in, you’ll have a low-fee experience with your J.P. Morgan Chase IRA.

Annual account fee: $0. I will admit that at first I thought there was an annual IRA account fee, but that $50 charge doesn’t apply to self-directed — that is, DIY — retirement accounts, where you manage the investing on your own. (Here’s our guide on how to invest for retirement.)

Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, SoFi, Robinhood: None charge an annual IRA fee, so I’m happy to report that J.P. Morgan is part of this $0 group. (Truth be told: Vanguard charges a $25 annual fee but it’s waived if you sign up for e-statements, so I count it as $0.)

Transfer-out fee: If you decide to move all your money to another broker or sell your investments and withdraw all your cash, you’ll owe J.P. Morgan $75. The $75 fee isn’t nothing, but it’s also a pretty common fee across brokers.

Safekeeping fee: If you’re scrolling around on J.P. Morgan’s fee schedule, you’ll see a $10 monthly “per position” safekeeping fee. Fear not! This is related to physical, hard-copy securities certificates. If you’re buying and selling your investments online, this shouldn’t apply to you. As you can see on this fee schedule (one of many in the J.P. Morgan universe), this fee is more accurately described as a “physical certificates safekeeping fee.” Most of us aren’t going to pay this fee.

Trading fees: Like most big brokers, J.P. Morgan charges $0 for stock and ETF trades. But I must salute J.P. Morgan on its $0 mutual-fund transaction fees. While most big brokers offer $0 transactions on some mutual funds, they also charge hefty fees on others. Consider Charles Schwab’s $74.95 trading fee for some mutual funds.

Broker-assisted trade fees: To speak to a human to make a trade at J.P. Morgan, the fee varies: $20 for mutual fund trades, $25 for stock trades, and $30 for trading bonds on the secondary market.

Self-directed investment options

J.P. Morgan is consistent with other big brokers with its investment offerings. You can buy and sell stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, and more. You can’t trade crypto directly, but you can trade bitcoin ETFs. Keep in mind that J.P. Morgan isn’t known for its trading platforms, so if you’re more of an eager active trader, perhaps look elsewhere.

» Read more about J.P. Morgan’s trading platforms in our J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Review on StockBrokers.com.

Fractional shares: J.P. Morgan now offers fractional shares on about 720 stocks and about 90 ETFs. (Here’s the full list.) That’s more than you’ll find at Charles Schwab, which offers fractional shares solely on S&P 500 stocks, and Vanguard, where fractional shares are limited to Vanguard’s own ETFs. But Fidelity offers fractional shares for more than 7,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs, and Interactive Brokers has fractional shares on more than 10,000 investments.

Managed investment options

Until recently, J.P. Morgan offered a full-on financial advisor service and a robo advisor, aka automated investing service. But the company decided to do away with the latter, so now your options are DIY-ing it with the self-directed investing option, or paying for financial advice with a human.

True to J.P. Morgan’s “founded more than two centuries ago” history, I got old-school vibes when hunting for info on the websites about financial advisor services. Rather than giving the cost details that I like to see clear and upfront, there’s more of a “call us, let’s talk” approach. My always-on-guard gut reaction to that kind of messaging is they want to get you on the phone before they give out too many details. I get a whiff of red leather couches, aged scotch, and high prices.

While the fees aren’t outrageous, J.P. Morgan’s financial advice fees are higher than at many competitors.

J.P. Morgan Personal Advisors: You’ll work with a team of fiduciary advisors (read: you won’t have one person dedicated to you) who will develop a financial plan for you. The minimum investment is $25,000, and the cost is 0.4% to 0.6%, depending on how much money you invest.

For example, if you invest $25,000, you’ll pay 0.6%. While the fee goes down the more moolah you bring to the table, it never gets as low as some other brokers’ similar services. Consider Vanguard’s 0.3% fee for working with an advisor team, though Vanguard does have a $50,000 minimum.

Or consider Schwab: If you come up with $25,000 to invest, plus pay a $300 upfront fee and $30 per month, you’ll get an automated investment portfolio, plus unlimited meetings with a Certified Financial Planner, a digital financial plan, and access to online software. Assuming a $25,000 account, that fee works out to less than 0.03% a year!

J.P. Morgan Private Client Advisors: If you like a more personal touch — meaning a single financial advisor, rather than a group — this is the service for you. With one big “if”: Are you bringing $100,000 to the table? If so, you’ll get a dedicated financial advisor. Be sure to research fees carefully, because a) they vary depending on the type of investment program you choose and b) there’s more than one. For example, for accounts up to $250,000, there’s a 1.45% annual fee, not including underlying investment fees. This fee is not outlandish in the old-school world of financial advice. But it’s also not cheap.

Retirement planning tools

J.P. Morgan Chase offers a wealth of financial education content and some adequate retirement-account calculators (including one with the clunky name of “401(k)/403(b) calculator”). But really the thing to look at is the free Wealth Plan tool.

J.P. Morgan Wealth Plan: With this handy tool, you can assess your retirement-savings readiness, plus set and track a variety of goals, including college savings, a big trip and more. You can prioritize your goals in order of importance, and it’s easy to test out changes that might help you better realize your dreams.

For example, in the retirement savings goal, the tool offers helpful suggestions such as different income levels in retirement, making it easy to play around with your numbers until you get to the exalted green state of “100% on track.”

The tool also lets you link external accounts to get a complete picture of your financial standing and your pathway toward your goals. We here at Reink Media Group (owner of both investor.com and StockBrokers.com) like this tool so much, we gave J.P. Morgan an award for it.

Doing an IRA rollover with J.P. Morgan

Much like other brokers, J.P. Morgan’s online rollover tool is straightforward and easy to use, just as long as you set aside time to read the instructions carefully. For example, the initial instructions lay out what to expect:

1. We'll ask you some questions about your 401(k) or other employer-sponsored plan.
2. We'll walk you through some steps to initiate a direct rollover.
3. When you're ready, we'll show you how to move your funds to a J.P. Morgan IRA.

I like the clarity here. You will end up needing to fill out a PDF form, but form-filling is an inevitable part of the rollover process.

On the plus side, J.P. Morgan currently offers a cash bonus for transfers (that is, fund a new account with cash) or rollovers (move money from another retirement account):

• $50 for moving $5,000 to $24,999
• $150 for moving $25,000 to $99,999
• $325 for moving $100,000 to $249,999
• $700 for moving $250,000 or more

The bonus is available only for self-directed IRA or brokerage accounts. (If you use a J.P. Morgan advisor, no bonus for you.)

Bottom line

If your plan is to open an IRA, invest your money, and let it sit, you could do worse than a J.P. Morgan IRA (aka Chase IRA). But if you have any intention of asking questions or digging around on the website for information, you’ll find a better user experience elsewhere. J.P. Morgan simply makes it too hard to find information easily. That said, I do really like that Wealth Plan tool.

FAQs

What is the 2024 IRA contribution limit for J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing IRA?

The 2024 IRA contribution limit is $7,000 if you’re under age 50, and $8,000 for those 50 and older. The limit is set by the IRS and applies to the total annual amount of new money an investor is allowed to contribute to an IRA at any broker. If you invest in both a traditional and a Roth IRA in the same year, the total of your combined contributions still may not exceed that $7,000/$8,000 limit. (IRA rollovers aren't subject to these contribution limits.) See “What is an IRA?” for more on IRA contribution and withdrawal rules for 2024.

Can I transfer money from my J.P. Morgan IRA to a bank account?

Yes, you can transfer money from a J.P. Morgan IRA (or a Chase IRA) to a bank account. It’s your money, after all. An ACH transfer may take two to three days. A wire transfer is faster but costs $25 (here’s the fee schedule).

Remember that withdrawing money from a traditional IRA, no matter which broker it’s at, has another possible cost: You could be subject to a 10% early withdrawal penalty if you’re younger than 59½ (there are some exceptions to this rule), plus your withdrawal will be subject to income taxes.

If your IRA is a Roth rather than a traditional IRA, then withdrawing your own contributions will avoid taxes and that 10% early withdrawal penalty. But early withdrawal of your Roth IRA earnings, aka investment returns, will subject you to that early withdrawal penalty and income taxes.

What is a Chase IRA deposit sweep account?

A Chase IRA deposit sweep account is when extra money in your account is “swept” into an interest-earning investment, such as a money market mutual fund or an interest-bearing bank product. The specific sweep products available will vary depending on the account type. And that means the yield you’ll earn on your sweep account will vary.

In general, sweep accounts help you earn money on your cash. But how much you earn will vary depending on the sweep options available to you. Consider moving that money into your investment portfolio as quickly as possible.

Is there a penalty for withdrawing from my Chase IRA?

If you move all of your money out of your Chase IRA to an account at a different company, you’ll likely owe a $75 transfer-out or termination fee. (You’ll incur this fee if you transfer all of your investments out of your Chase IRA, or sell out of your investments and then withdraw all of the money.)

Also, there is almost always a 10% penalty for withdrawing money from any IRA, including a Chase IRA or a J.P. Morgan IRA, before you’re 59½ years old. That is, the IRS will demand 10% of whatever you’ve withdrawn, assuming it falls under the negative moniker of “early withdrawal.” (Look under “IRA” on this IRS table for a handful of exceptions to the early withdrawal penalty.)

On top of the penalty, if your IRA is a traditional IRA rather than a Roth, you’ll owe income tax on the withdrawal.

If you have a Roth IRA, you can withdraw your contributions at any time without penalty or taxes, but if you withdraw investment returns, earnings or interest, you’ll face an early withdrawal penalty and income taxes.

Methodology

Our mission at investor.com is to provide Americans with in-depth, unbiased reviews of financial products and services, based on our personal, hands-on testing and data collection. Our ratings are based on this research and on our in-house experts’ deep authority in the field. Brokers and other financial service providers cannot pay for preferential treatment. See more about why readers can trust our analyses.

Our research team conducts thorough testing on a wide range of features, products, services, and tools for U.S. investors. We personally test all available trading platforms and tools for each broker and evaluate them based on multiple variables. All research, writing and data collection at investor.com is done by humans, for humans. Read our generative AI policy here.

For this review of individual retirement accounts, we thoroughly examined all retirement-related accounts and services available to U.S. customers at the broker in question and looked for features important to long-term savers, such as types of accounts available, fees and planning tools. Each broker’s IRA offerings are given a rating on a five-star scale based on this data collection and individual evaluation. Accuracy is of the utmost importance to investor.com, and our data is checked on a rolling basis year-round.

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