Fidelity Roth IRA: How to Open One and What It Costs

Fidelity is the default recommendation for a first Roth IRA, and the reasons are unglamorous: nothing to open it, nothing to keep it, fractional shares from a dollar, and a set of index funds that charge literally zero. For most people opening a first retirement account, the decision ends there.

This covers what it costs, how to open one, what to hold in it, and the two places Fidelity is genuinely weaker than the alternatives.

The short version

How to open a Fidelity Roth IRA

Budget fifteen minutes. There is no minimum and no fee to open.

• 1. Start the application. On fidelity.com choose Open an Account, then Roth IRA. If you already hold a Fidelity account the form is mostly pre-filled.
• 2. Provide identity details. Social Security number, date of birth, address, employment status. Federal know-your-customer rules require all of it.
• 3. Name a beneficiary. Two minutes now saves your heirs probate later. Most people skip this and should not.
• 4. Link a bank account. Fidelity verifies instantly with most large banks, or by micro-deposit over a couple of days.
• 5. Contribute — and specify the tax year. Between January and April the form asks whether the money counts toward the current year or the prior one. Getting this wrong is the single most common error in IRA funding.
• 6. Buy something. The cash will sit in a core money market position until you place a trade. It earns interest there, which disguises the fact that you are not yet invested.

The zero-expense-ratio funds

Fidelity's clearest differentiator is its ZERO index fund line — a handful of broad index mutual funds with a stated expense ratio of 0.00% and no minimum investment. Over a multi-decade holding period, the difference between 0.00% and 0.03% is real but small; the more meaningful point is that they remove the last excuse not to start.

The catch is portability. These funds are proprietary, so if you ever transfer the IRA to another broker they cannot move in kind — they have to be sold first. Inside an IRA that triggers no tax, which makes it a minor inconvenience rather than a trap, but it is worth knowing before you build the whole account around them. We covered the range in our FZROX review.

Where Fidelity falls short

The website carries thirty years of accumulated features and shows it; the information density is high and the navigation is not obvious. The mobile app is cleaner but hides some IRA settings the browser exposes. And the managed option, Fidelity Go, is fine rather than exceptional — if you want a robo-advisor specifically, Wealthfront and Betterment both do more with tax-aware features, though those matter less inside an IRA where there is nothing to harvest.

The rules that apply everywhere

None of the following depends on your choice of provider. They are IRS rules and they are identical at Fidelity 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 Fidelity 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 a Fidelity Roth IRA have a minimum?

No. There is no minimum to open and no minimum to keep it open. Fidelity also sells fractional shares from $1, so a small first contribution can be fully invested rather than sitting in cash.

Does Fidelity charge fees on a Roth IRA?

No account fee, no annual fee, and no commission on online US stock and ETF trades. Costs come from the expense ratios of whatever funds you hold, and from a transfer-out fee if you move the account to another provider.

Can I open a Fidelity Roth IRA for my child?

Yes, through the Roth IRA for Kids, a custodial account you control until the child reaches the age of majority in your state. The child needs earned income to contribute, and the contribution cannot exceed what they earned.

What should I invest in inside a Fidelity Roth IRA?

For most people a broad total-market or S&P 500 index fund, held for decades. Fidelity offers both with very low or zero expense ratios. Individual stocks are permitted but concentrate risk in an account you cannot easily replace.

Can I move an existing Roth IRA to Fidelity?

Yes. Fidelity will initiate the transfer for you and it moves as an in-kind transfer where possible, meaning your holdings arrive intact rather than being sold. Proprietary funds from the old provider may have to be liquidated first.

Fidelity or Schwab for a Roth IRA?

Functionally very close — both charge nothing, both have no minimum, both offer fractional shares. Fidelity has the zero-expense-ratio funds and better cash management. Schwab has physical branches and a stronger phone desk. Pick on which of those you will actually use.

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.