Roth IRA Penalty?

[jamesnj]

If I withdraw contributions from my Roth IRA will I get penalized? I have a small amount in there and have only lost money. I haven't made anything so want to put it in a high yield checking/savings instead. I was under the impression I won't get penalized on withdrawing contributions from my Roth IRA.

[DavidD66]

If you withdraw your contributions to a Roth IRA you will not have to pay a penalty.  You can withdraw contributions you made to your Roth IRA anytime, tax- and penalty-free. However, you may have to pay taxes and penalties on earnings in your Roth IRA.  In order to avoid a potential 10% early withdrawal penalty:

• Withdrawals must be taken after age 59½.
• Withdrawals must be taken after a five-year holding period.

[dmertz]

Instead of taking the money out of the Roth IRA, why would you not just do trustee-to-trustee transfer of the funds to a fixed-income investment in another Roth IRA?

[fanfare]

You can put your Roth IRA into a money market fund currently paying over 4% (last time I looked).

you need a self-directed Roth IRA account.

@jamesnj