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Do I get to keep my IRA match if I withdraw money from my IRA?

Published

Keeping the IRA match after withdrawing funds from your IRA depends on how much you’re withdrawing and how much you’ve contributed to your IRA since receiving the match.

As long as you’ve held the matched contributions for at least two years, the IRA match is yours to keep.

For example, if you originally contributed $1,000 and received a $10 IRA match on December 31, 2024, you can withdraw all of it (including the match) on or after December 31, 2026.

Alternatively, if you withdraw money from your IRA earlier than two years after the match date, you’ll keep the IRA match as long as the amount of your withdrawal is less than or equal to the net amount that you’ve deposited into your IRA after December 30, 2024. If your withdrawal is greater than those deposits, we will apply an early IRA match removal fee based on the amount of the withdrawal that originally received the match.

For example, if you originally contributed $7,000 and received a $70 IRA match on December 31, 2024 and withdrew $3,000 in 2025 or 2026 before making additional contributions to your IRA, your account will be subject to an early IRA match removal fee of $30.

Example

Let's say you originally deposited $1,000 and received a $10 IRA match on December 31, 2024, and then you withdrew $800 from your IRA less than two years after receiving the match without depositing more into your IRA, you will be subject to an early IRA match removal fee of $8. This is equal to the $8 IRA match you earned for the $800 of eligible contributions that you’re withdrawing.

The following shows some more examples of the early IRA match removal fee:

Contribution

IRA match

Withdrawal date

Account value on the withdrawal date

Withdraw amount

Remaining balance

Early IRA match removal fee

$1,000

$10

2 or more years after the match

$1,010

-$800

$210

$0

$1,000

$10

Less than 2 years after the match

$1,010

-$800

$210

$8

$1,000

$10

Less than 2 years after the match

$2,010 due to additional contributions

-$800

$1,210

$0

In no event will the amount of the Early IRA Match Removal Fee exceed the amount of the match you received from Betterment. If you are enrolled in the 3% Premium match, the 1% IRA Match and the Early IRA match removal fee will be 3x the amount in the table above. 

The early IRA match removal fee will apply to any of the following transactions: 

  • RMDs
  • Withdrawals (+ Automated withdrawals)
  • Internal Transfers to a non-Roth or Trad IRA account 
  • Transfers out (ACATS/Rollovers out)
  • ACH Reversals

The early IRA match removal fee will not apply to any transactions that keep matched contributions within your Traditional or Roth IRA accounts for two years after receiving the match.