StockCar AvengeR <stockcar_avenger-nospam-[at]yahoo.com> wrote:
- quote -

Don't forget, that if you withdraw MORE than the sum of your
contributions, you have "earnings". Those earnings will be
subject to ordinary tax rates and, if you are not yet
59-1/2, a 10% early withdrawal tax.

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Herb Smith wrote:
- quote -

Well, I plan to use it to retire some evil CC debt,
otherwise I might do just that. Once I do that, I should be
credit card debt free.

- quote -

Thank you. That is what I thought, but the person at the
financial instituion led me to beleive otherwise. He said I
needed to take the value of the shares now versus what they
were when I bought them, and do an analysis that way. Which
I did (took a while) and came up within a few pennies of
just multiplying my monthly contribution times the number of
months contributed. Thanks for confirming my suspicion.

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StockCar AvengeR <stockcar_avenger-nospam-[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

Why not move the funds to a better-performing investment vehicle?

- quote -

Your"basis" is simply the sum of your contributions to the Roth IRA.
That is the amount you already paid tax on.

- quote -

You can withdraw your contributions at any time, with no tax or
penalty considerations.
The earnings (all $278) will be taxed at ordinary tax rates and is
also subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty.

- quote -

Yes

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Hello,

I have a badly performing Roth IRA that I have been putting
money into since 6/98 at the rate or $40 / month - not a lot
of money, but I hoped it might add up over time.

Anyhow, I have a lot of other better investments now, and
other investment vehicles for retirement, but I could use
that money to take care of some high interest debt.

How do I determine the cost basis for what I put into the
invesment? Do I have to look at the share price and shares
purchased then compare the price of each share purchased to
the current share price, or can I simply multiple the 40
dollars constant investment times the number of months I
have been investing.

Basically, I have put in 3000 dollars since opening the
account, and it is now worth a grand total of 3278 after
four years. Since I stopped the automatic contributions
now, I am sure they are going to start charging me monthly
surchrges to the account so i need to get the money I can
out now.

I am not old enough to retire yet nor do I have any
qualifying events, So I have to pay the 10 percent penalty
on my earnings.

TIA for your advice.

Joe

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