IRA Transfer Bonuses — Traditional, Roth, SEP, SIMPLE

Cash bonuses for moving retirement accounts between custodians, with the trustee-to-trustee path, the 60-day rollover rules, and holding periods stated clearly.

IRA transfer bonuses are essentially the same product as taxable brokerage transfer bonuses, but with two important wrinkles. First, the transfer mechanics are tax-sensitive: a trustee-to-trustee transfer is generally a non-reportable, non-taxable event, while a 60-day rollover triggers reporting and exposes you to penalties if mishandled. Second, the bonus itself may or may not be paid into the IRA — the difference matters for whether it gets the IRA's tax shelter.

A trustee-to-trustee transfer is the standard path. You authorize the new custodian to request the assets directly from the old custodian; you never take possession. This kind of transfer doesn't count against the one-rollover-per-12-months limit that applies to 60-day rollovers, and it doesn't require any reporting on your tax return for that year (assuming both accounts are the same IRA type). It can be done as often as you like.

A 60-day rollover (also called an indirect rollover) is the alternative path: the old custodian sends you the funds and you have 60 days to deposit them in the new IRA. This path has friction — mandatory 20% federal withholding on some distributions if not coded correctly, the once-per-12-months limit on rollovers between IRAs, and the risk of missing the 60-day window — and is rarely the right choice when a trustee-to-trustee transfer is available.

Live offers

How we evaluate IRA transfer offers

IRA offers are scored on bonus-as-percent-of-transferred-assets, the holding period, and the location where the bonus posts. A bonus paid into the IRA itself preserves the account's tax-deferred (or tax-free, for Roth) character and effectively earns a higher after-tax value than a same-size bonus paid to a taxable side account. Differences here can be the deciding factor between two offers with the same headline.

We also evaluate the receiving custodian on the merits as a long-term home for retirement assets: fund expense ratios on platform-preferred products, availability of low-cost index funds and ETFs, RMD support if you're approaching the relevant ages, beneficiary designation tools, and integration with planning software. A bonus that moves you to a worse platform for the next twenty years is not actually a bonus.

Specific to SEP and SIMPLE IRAs: not every offer that accepts Traditional and Roth IRAs accepts SEP and SIMPLE accounts, and SIMPLEs in particular often have a two-year holding-period rule from the date of first contribution before they can be rolled out of the SIMPLE entirely without penalty. Verify both the offer's eligibility list and your own SIMPLE timing before initiating.

What makes an IRA transfer offer worth pursuing

The right offer comes from a custodian you'd be willing to stay with regardless of the bonus — and where the cost structure works for your investment style. For an investor in low-cost index ETFs, custodians differ very little in expense; for one using actively managed funds, platform-preferred-fund lists can materially affect long-run cost. A bonus that pulls you toward a higher-cost platform creates a long-term drag that erases the bonus over years.

Tier breakpoints are the leverage point. A bonus tier table that pays meaningfully more at $250,000 than at $200,000 can be worth consolidating other IRAs (or rolling in a 401(k) from a former employer, if your goals support that move) to hit the next tier. Just consolidate intentionally, not to chase the bonus into a setup that's worse than what you had.

Watch the holding-period clock carefully. IRA transfer bonuses commonly require assets to remain for twelve to twenty-four months. Early departure typically claws back the bonus pro rata or in full. The clock usually starts on assets-received, not application date.