SAD TO SAY GOOD-BYE

Participants in the infant myRA program, created under President Obama, just received the following email:

 

“The myRA Program will be phased out and your account will be affected.

 

Dear XYZ:

 

We're writing to inform you that the U.S. Department of the Treasury has decided to phase out the myRA retirement savings program and the program is no longer accepting new enrollments. Please read the important information below to learn what this means for your account.

 

Your Account Status

 

Your account remains open and you can continue to manage your account until further notice. The funds in your account remain in an investment issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. We'll be in touch over the coming weeks with next steps and relevant deadlines regarding the transfer or closure of your account. In the meantime, we want you to know that any myRA with a zero ($0) balance as of September 15, 2017 or later, will be subject to possible automatic closure beginning on September 18, 2017.

 

Actions you should take now:

 

Update your contact information

 

We recommend you log in to your account to make sure your contact information is complete and up to date. You can also update your information by contacting customer service.

 

Transfer your myRA to another Roth IRA

 

Your myRA is a Roth IRA. You have the option to transfer your myRA into another Roth IRA that you select. To do so, you will first want to identify or open an account at the new Roth IRA provider where you will continue to save and invest. Then, by working with a new Roth IRA provider you select, you can transfer your myRA balance to your new Roth IRA. This will allow you to continue saving without paying current income taxes on earnings, maintain the preferential tax treatment of a Roth IRA, avoid tax withholding that may apply to a distribution, and avoid penalties.

 

If you choose not to transfer your balance to another Roth IRA, you can make a withdrawal for the amount of your myRA balance by calling customer service. You can also withdraw funds online by signing into your account. To maintain all of the benefits of a Roth IRA, you must deposit funds paid to you (as well as any tax withholding) into another Roth IRA within 60 days of the distribution. Failure to do so may result in tax liability and penalties related to withdrawn earnings that would have been avoided by working with your new Roth IRA provider to transfer your account balance.

 

Visit irs.gov/rollovers for more information regarding Roth IRA transfers or rollovers, or visit myRA.gov to learn more about withdrawing funds from myRA.

 

Upon transfer of your myRA balance to another Roth IRA or distribution to you of your myRA balance, Comerica1 will no longer be custodian to your myRA.

 

For more information about this announcement or if you have additional questions, visit myRA.gov.

 

Sincerely,

 

myRA Customer Support”

 

I verified this on the myRA website.

 

It is sad that this program is being killed.  At this point I do not know if it is because of lack of sufficient participation or idiot Donald T Rump’s continual policy of undoing any good done by his predecessor out of spite.

 

I will report on future developments with this issue here as they arise.

 

TTFN