Ally Roth IRA: How to Open One

Ally Invest offers a Roth IRA with no minimum and no commissions on US stocks and ETFs. Its distinguishing feature is not the brokerage — it is that Ally Bank is behind it, so the account sits one tab away from a competitive savings account.

Below: what it costs, how to open one, the catch in the free robo tier, and whether the bank integration is worth choosing it over Fidelity.

The short version

How to open an Ally Roth IRA

• 1. Pick self-directed or robo. Self-directed means you choose the investments. Robo Portfolios means Ally builds and maintains an allocation for you. The applications are different from the start, so decide first.
• 2. Apply. On ally.com under Invest, select Roth IRA. Existing Ally Bank customers sign in and skip most of the form.
• 3. Identity details and beneficiaries.
• 4. Fund it. Transfers from an Ally Bank account are immediate; external bank transfers take the usual one to three business days.
• 5. Tag the contribution year if you are contributing between January and April.
• 6. Invest. On self-directed, place your orders. On Robo Portfolios, the allocation is applied for you once the cash arrives.

The case: it sits next to your savings

Ally's genuine advantage is that Ally Bank is a strong high-yield savings provider, and having the emergency fund and the retirement account under one login removes friction from moving money between them. If your cash already lives at Ally, this is a real convenience — see our high-yield savings roundup for where Ally sits on rate.

The robo option and its cash buffer

Ally Invest Robo Portfolios is offered in two configurations: one charging a percentage advisory fee, and one charging nothing but holding a substantial fixed allocation in cash. The free version is not free — Ally earns on that cash, and a large permanent cash position is a meaningful drag in an account with a thirty-year horizon. Read the allocation before choosing the no-fee tier. If a managed Roth is what you want, compare against Wealthfront and Betterment.

Where Ally falls short

No fractional shares on self-directed trades, so contributions leave a cash remainder. No proprietary fund family, so nothing equivalent to Fidelity's zero-expense-ratio funds. And the research tooling is thinner than Fidelity's or Schwab's. We compared the brokerage side directly in Fidelity vs. Ally Invest and E*TRADE vs. Ally Invest.

The rules that apply everywhere

None of the following depends on your choice of provider. They are IRS rules and they are identical at Ally and at every competitor.

• Annual contribution cap. The IRS sets one limit across all your IRAs combined, not one per account, and indexes it to inflation. The 2025 figure was $7,000, or $8,000 from age 50. Confirm the current year's number on the IRS page linked below before you max out.
• You need earned income. You cannot contribute more than you earned that year. Investment income and benefits do not count.
• Income phase-out. Above a modified adjusted gross income threshold your allowed contribution shrinks, then disappears. The thresholds move annually.
• Contributions come out freely. The money you put in can be withdrawn at any age, tax-free and penalty-free. This is unique to the Roth and makes it a far less scary first account than people assume.
• Earnings are stricter. To withdraw the growth tax-free you need to be 59½ and have held a Roth IRA for five years.
• The deadline is tax day. You can contribute for a tax year right up to the filing deadline the following April, which means two years' worth can go in during the same spring.

Our pillar guide, how to open a Roth IRA, covers the decision itself — Roth versus traditional, and whether you should be using one at all.

What to actually hold in it

Opening the account is not investing. Money transferred into an IRA sits in cash until you buy something, and a surprising number of accounts sit that way for years.

For most people the answer is a broad, low-cost index fund or ETF rather than individual stocks — see the three-fund portfolio for the standard construction, and ETF vs. mutual fund for which wrapper to use. If you would rather pick individual companies, the mechanics are the same as any brokerage account: how to buy Apple stock walks through an order ticket end to end.

Once a year, check the mix has not drifted. Rebalancing takes about twenty minutes.

How Ally compares to the other four

The honest summary: for a straightforward Roth IRA the differences between Fidelity, Schwab, Chase and Ally are small enough that convenience should decide it. Webull is the outlier, and the reason is in the third column.

Frequently asked questions

Does Ally offer a Roth IRA?

Yes, through Ally Invest, in two forms: a self-directed account where you pick the investments, and Robo Portfolios where Ally manages the allocation for you.

Is there a minimum for an Ally Roth IRA?

The self-directed account has no minimum. Robo Portfolios requires a small opening balance. Neither charges an annual account fee.

Can I buy fractional shares in an Ally Invest IRA?

No. Self-directed trades are in whole shares only, which means part of each contribution will remain in cash unless it divides evenly into the share price.

Is the free version of Ally Robo Portfolios really free?

There is no advisory fee, but the no-fee tier holds a large fixed cash allocation that Ally earns interest on. Over a long horizon that uninvested portion costs more than a small advisory fee would. The paid tier keeps far less in cash.

Should I pick Ally over Fidelity for a Roth IRA?

Only if your cash already sits at Ally Bank and the single-login convenience will keep you consistent. On investment selection, fractional shares and fund costs, Fidelity is ahead, and it costs nothing to open.

Can I move an existing Roth IRA into Ally?

Yes. Ally will initiate the transfer, and holdings generally move in kind. The outgoing provider usually charges a transfer fee.

Fees, minimums, promotional matches and IRS limits all change. Every figure here is checked against the primary sources listed below, but confirm the current numbers on the provider's own page before you open an account.