@rhodesjulian-out wrote:
All the money i have put into this rollover ira has been post tax money. Its already been taxed coming out of my pay check.
That's every IRA ever. IRAs are different from 401k plans, in that a 401k plan is sponsored by the employer and you can only contribute via payroll deduction. However, an IRA is a private retirement arrangement made with a bank or broker. You contribute money (up to $6000 per year, or $7000 if age 50 or older) and then you have the choice to make those contributions tax-deductible.
That's the whole point of an IRA, you make tax deductible contributions while you are working, and then when you retire and are presumably at a lower tax bracket, you withdraw the money and pay the taxes. You report the contributions on your tax return and they are subtracted from your taxable income, so they become tax-free. Tax-free now, taxable on withdrawal.
The other option, if your income allows it, is to contribute to a Roth IRA, which means you pay the taxes now (no deduction) but withdrawals after you retire are tax-free. (If you intended to make after-tax contributions to a Roth IRA -- which is often a very good idea -- we can tell you how to correct the problem but it is best to do it before December 31.)
If you are making contributions to a traditional pre-tax IRA but you don't want to deduct them, that is a third situation which is much more complex and not recommended if you can avoid it. We can discuss that with you if you like, but I feel you need to get up to speed on the basics of IRAs first. If you don't want to talk to a financial advisor, there are some good books and good web sites on retirement investing (if you can avoid the scammy ones).
