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The New York City Employee IRA

NYCE IRA Basics

The New York City Employee Individual Retirement Account (NYCE IRA) is a tax-favored retirement savings vehicle. The NYCE IRA includes both a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA for the exclusive benefit of employees and former employees of the City of New York and their respective spouses. Open a NYCE IRA and enjoy the convenience, professionalism and performance of a program that has been designed with only you in mind. No commissions, no sales charges, no self-interest. Our only interest is your interest!


See the differences between a Traditional and Roth IRA 

Eligibility

You are eligible to establish a NYCE IRA account if you are a current or former NYC employee with a termination date of 1985 or after, or if you are the spouse of either.

You may make contributions to the NYCE IRA if:

Advantages

There are many advantages to establishing a NYCE IRA including: 


  • Contributions:  Continue making contributions while you are still working or after you leave City service.  As long as you receive taxable compensation, even after you retire or leave City service, you are eligible to contribute to the Traditional NYCE IRA.  There is no age limit for making contributions to the Roth NYCE IRA. 
  • Consolidation:  Consolidate all of your retirement plan accounts into the NYCE IRA.  Simply move your retirement accounts such as your retail IRAs, and previous employer plans (457, 401(k), 403(b) etc.) to the Traditional NYCE IRA.  The Roth NYCE IRA accepts rollovers from Roth 401(k) plans and other retail Roth IRAs.  The NYCE IRA offers you a great place to consolidate your retirement plan assets.  
  • Deposit of Tax Refund:  You can arrange to have a portion of your federal income tax refund deposited into your NYCE IRA account. 
  • Investment Options:  The NYCE IRA has the same low management fee investment options, including pre-arranged portfolios, as the NYC Deferred Compensation Plan.   
  • Accessibility:  The NYCE IRA gives you unrestricted access to your money.  
  • Defer Taxes and Avoid Penalties:  Rolling over to the NYCE IRA defers the taxes of a deferred compensation plan distribution and avoids penalties.  
  • Tax Flexibility:  With the Traditional NYCE IRA, you can choose not to pay taxes when you withdraw, but when they're due.  By law, 20% of a 401(k), 457, or 403(b) withdrawal is retained for federal taxes.  Qualified Distributions from the Roth NYCE IRA account are not subject to federal, state or local taxes.  
  • Estate Planning Flexibility:  As a "stretch" IRA, it is ideal for leaving rolled-over 457 and 401(k) assets to your spouse or other Eligible Designated Beneficiary, with required withdrawals and taxes spread out over their lifetime.  (See: NYCE IRA Beneficiary)  
  • Spousal IRA:  Spouses can take advantage of the low cost investment options offered through the Deferred Compensation Plan by establishing a Spousal NYCE IRA.

Quarterly Statements

You will receive a quarterly NYCE IRA statement that reflects your account balance as of the end of each calendar quarter.  If you are enrolled in the NYC Deferred Compensation Plan (NYC DCP), you will receive a statement regarding your NYCE IRA along with the DCP statement you already receive.

Statements are available during the month following the close of the quarter, and can either be mailed to you or viewed online by accessing your account.


Your NYCE IRA statement will show the following:

  • Your account balance in dollars (which reflects the amount you would have received if you had withdrawn from your NYCE IRA as of the statement closing date), and if applicable, in units; 
  • your contributions; and 
  • your share of the investment gains and losses experienced by the NYCE IRA during that specific quarter.

Fees

As a NYCE IRA account owner, you are charged a $20.00 quarterly administrative fee; this fee is automatically deducted from your NYCE IRA account.  In addition to the $20.00 quarterly administrative fee, the NYCE IRA’s investment funds are assessed an annualized asset-based fee of 0.04%.

To see the NYCE IRA's low management fees, visit the Selecting Your Investments section of this website.


The investment funds have: 

  • No front end loads (sales charges or commissions paid for an investment at the time of purchase)
  • No back end loads (sales charges or commissions paid for an investment at the time of sale)
  • No surrender charges (fees charged when an insurance or annuity product is surrendered for its cash value)