The thing is the total value across both accounts is around $300K. $140 is shown as cost basis. So anything gained by interest is part of earnings and I can't imagine why it would show up in cost basis. In looking at one of the accounts I see a lot of dividends reinvestments, but again I don't see how that is considered cost basis, because the dividends are earnings. I almost get the sense that these companies are being encouraged by the IRS to incorrectly report cost basis so that people like me might have an initial thought of "Oh look, I can withdraw that amount penalty free!", and then the IRS gets a benefit. Maybe they are regretting how beneficial a Roth IRA is to the client and trying to find ways to bring about penalties. Otherwise it is really tough for me to figure out why both schwab and primerica, on their websites, don't display my total contribution. They display a ton of other information, just not the single piece of information that is most important to me for figuring out what I can withdraw penalty free... Quite odd really.
