individual retirement account

American  

noun

1. a savings plan that offers tax advantages to an individual depositor to set aside money for retirement. IRA

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Individual Retirement Account Cultural  

1. A retirement plan. The “traditional” IRA allows individuals to contribute pretax earnings up to a maximum yearly allowance and to defer income taxes until the money is withdrawn after retirement. The “Roth” IRA allows individuals to contribute aftertax earnings and pay no taxes on future withdrawals. In contrast to a 401(k) plan, an IRA is funded entirely by the individual tax payer.

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Example Sentences

I used Microsoft Copilot to create a spreadsheet to estimate the tax cost of making transfers out of my individual retirement account to my Roth IRA.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 8, 2026

In this week’s Don’t Short Yourself newsletter, Gordon Gottsegen explained how he corrected a tax-related mistake he made when contributing to an individual retirement account.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 6, 2026

Beyond that, older adults can make a contribution to a traditional, pretax individual retirement account.

From Barron's • Nov. 13, 2025

Ms. Phipps, 72, said that her annual income consisted of money withdrawn from an individual retirement account, about $50,000 from Social Security and $20,000 from a pension.

From New York Times • Dec. 16, 2023

Last month, given the choice of putting money into my individual retirement account or spending it on a French brass clock, it took about 45 minutes to choose the latter course.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 8, 2023