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Robinhood’s IRA Match: Is It a Good Deal?

Robinhood IRA 3 Percent Match
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Robinhood offers two tiers of IRA contribution matching:

  • Standard Robinhood members get a 1% match on new contributions.
  • Robinhood Gold members get a 3% match on new contributions. (Robinhood Gold costs $5 per month or $50 per year if paid upfront after a 30-day free trial.)

Robinhood is also offering a Transfer Boost promotion for IRA and 401(k) transfers completed by April 30th, 2025. Gold members will receive a 2% match on their transferred funds, while non-Gold members earn a 1% match. There’s no limit to the match amount, and transfers of any size qualify.

Robinhood IRA Matching Details

IRA matches apply to ongoing contributions to an existing Robinhood IRA.

The match is classified as interest income, so it doesn’t count towards your annual contribution limit.

To earn and keep the 3% match, you must maintain your Robinhood Gold membership for one year from the date of your first contribution with a 3% boost. Additionally, withdrawing funds from a Traditional IRA before age 59½ may incur a 10% IRS early withdrawal penalty, and Roth IRA earnings withdrawn early may be subject to taxes and penalties.

You can keep the entire match if you withdraw funds before the 5-year mark and your remaining IRA balance stays at or above your original contribution amount plus the match amount.

However, if your withdrawal causes your remaining balance to fall below this threshold, Robinhood may charge an Early IRA Match Removal Fee. This fee is proportional to the amount withdrawn and does not necessarily match the entire amount.

For example, if you contributed $1,000 and earned a $10 match, then withdrew $800, leaving a balance of $210, you’ll be charged an Early IRA Match Removal Fee of $8, not the full $10 match.

The fee is calculated based on the portion of the matched contributions you’re withdrawing. In this case, you’d be keeping $2 of the match (corresponding to the $200 you didn’t cancel) and returning $8 (corresponding to the $800 you did withdraw)

Standard and Gold members can also get a 1% match when transferring funds from another IRA or 401(k) to a Robinhood IRA. For example, if you roll over $100,000, you’ll receive a $1,000 bonus. You must keep the funds in the account for at least five years for rollovers or transfers. There is no limit on how much you can earn.

How Does The Robinhood IRA Match Work?

The Robinhood IRA match resembles an employer matching your 401(k) contributions.

For 2024 and 2025, if you’re under 50 and contribute $7,000 to your IRA (Roth or traditional), the maximum you can earn is $70 with a standard account or $210 with a Robinhood Gold subscription. If you’re 50 or older and contribute a maximum of $8,000, you can earn up to $80 with a standard account or $240 with Robinhood Gold. The match is deposited directly into your Robinhood IRA., not your cash brokerage account.

You continue to get this match on all contributions in the ensuing years. This can easily compensate for Robinhood’s $5 monthly fee for Gold membership. 

Remember, to contribute to an IRA, you must have eligible earned income, and Roth IRA contributions are subject to income phase-out limits per IRS rules.

The deadline to contribute to an IRA for a given tax year is the tax filing deadline of the following year. For a 2024 IRA contribution, the deadline is April 15, 2025.

Is The Robinhood IRA Worth It?

Considering this is a long-term commitment, it’s important to determine whether Robinhood is the best place to park your retirement funds.

A few things to know about the Robinhood IRA are:

  • You can have both a Roth account and a traditional account.
  • While Robinhood doesn’t offer mutual funds, you can access various ETFs.
  • You can’t trade crypto within your Robinhood IRA. 
  • Robinhood offers point-in-time retirement portfolio recommendations, providing a starting point for investors based on their goals and risk tolerance. However, these recommendations are not automatically updated or rebalanced. While this approach gives you the flexibility to manage your portfolio as you see fit, it also means that you’ll need to rebalance your portfolio yourself. Robinhood’s IRA isn’t a great fit if this sounds too complex. Instead, I’d consider a brokerage like M1 (read our M1 Review) that offers a hands-off retirement portfolio continuously optimized without fees.

While Robinhood does have a free option, it’s worth paying $5 per month for a Gold account if you plan on maxing out your annual contributions and can manage rebalancing with ETFs.

Since you earn a 3% match bonus on new contributions, the break-even point for coming out ahead with the Gold account is $3,000 annually. If you’re contributing less than $3,000 annually, it’s better to take the 1% match offered by the free account. 

While Robinhood is known for its free trading, it is wise to separate the idea of trading individual stocks for profit from investing for retirement.

Investing a large portion of your money in individual stocks risks your retirement savings. Therefore, the Robinhood IRA is best for those who want access to low-cost ETFs and can manage their portfolio independently to help them achieve their retirement goals. 

Visit Robinhood to learn more.

R.J. Weiss
R.J. Weiss, founder of The Ways To Wealth, has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ since 2010. Holding a B.A. in finance and having completed the CFP® certification curriculum at The American College, R.J. combines formal education with a deep commitment to providing unbiased financial insights. Recognized as a trusted authority in the financial realm, his expertise is highlighted in major publications like Business Insider, New York Times, and Forbes.

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