Fidelity closed tIRA used for backdoor Roth

[cabfranc]

I logged onto Fidelity this morning to contribute to my tIRA and it was closed. I called customer service and they said that it was closed because I transferred all the money out and it had a zero balance. I indicated that when I did the last backdoor Roth last January, I selected the option to leave the account open and indicated that it would be extremely annoying if I had to reopen or open a new account every year. The rep did not seem to know the specific rules around closing accounts with zero balances. I have to call a special office within Fidelity to get it reopened tomorrow. I have been doing the backdoor Roth at Fidelity for several years and this has never happened. Anyone else have this issue this year?

[illumination]

I had a similar issue at Schwab with my wife's T-IRA as it had been inactive for a while (I got a warning though it would be closed) and in addition to me asking to keep it opened even with a zero balance, I believe a rep recommended one time to leave a token amount of money in there, like 1 penny or $1 so it wouldn't be closed.

My understanding though is you shouldn't have to do this, but if it's an ongoing issue, might be worth it.

[ShadowRegent]

My tIRA and my wife’s also closed this year. There was a link on the Summary page to reopen it. It took about 10 seconds, though it took about 30 minutes to appear in my transfer list afterwards.

[mw1739]

Same here when I did it last week. I clicked the reopen button and did the backdoor Roth the next day.

[cabfranc]

Same here when I did it last week. I clicked the reopen button and did the backdoor Roth the next day.

Where was the reopen button? I only saw a button at the top that gave me the option to open a new account.

[PersonalFinanceJam]

My tIRA and my wife’s also closed this year. There was a link on the Summary page to reopen it. It took about 10 seconds, though it took about 30 minutes to appear in my transfer list afterwards.

Same. Just completed my back door Roth. The OP may want to see if they can see it now that the account was reopened.

*edit* my bad I see the OP did not indicate the CSR re-opened the account

[martiansteeler]

Same here. Just clicked the reopen button. It popped up when I opened the account on the portfolio page (or maybe when I clicked to fund the account). Account was reopened in a second…took about 10 minutes for the ability to transfer money into it was restored.

[ResearchMed]

I had a similar issue at Schwab with my wife's T-IRA as it had been inactive for a while (I got a warning though it would be closed) and in addition to me asking to keep it opened even with a zero balance, I believe a rep recommended one time to leave a token amount of money in there, like 1 penny or $1 so it wouldn't be closed.

My understanding though is you shouldn't have to do this, but if it's an ongoing issue, might be worth it.

To avoid any possible difficulties (e.g., finding a "re-open" button or needing to make calls), yes, the idea that illumination illuminated above should work.

We've still got accounts with silly amounts such as $0.27 (that's 27 cents) that sit year after year.
They are from trailing interest, etc., sometimes interest that suddenly appeared after other trailing interest had already been moved out. That meant that the account we thought was "again zero"... suddenly wasn't again.

We decided just to leave those pennies there in part "in case we ever needed to account". One was a rollover account, which *might* have some use, though to "use it", we'd first have to rollover enough new money, which could have been put into a newly opened rollover account.
When that second trailing interest belatedly showed up, it was a "why bother" to do anything with this type of account.
Note that there are *no* fees, or we'd have closed it of course. Well, the pennies would have gotten eaten up with the first "fee", so that would have ended that anyway.

I had not thought about backdoor Roths then. However, we'll probably never use a backdoor Roth, but still... no one seems bothered by our wee accounts.

RM

[StrangePenguin]

+1 to everything above.

I was surprised to see that the account had been closed, since they haven't done that in previous years. But reopening it took only about 3 clicks and 2 minutes. But then I had to wait 30 minutes or so before I could move money into it.

[plutoblackhole]

Same this year for both DW and me. We converted $6,999.99 this year leaving $0.01 in the tIRA.

Edit: We both had reopen buttons.

[FactualFran]

Where was the reopen button? I only saw a button at the top that gave me the option to open a new account.

In my similar case, I don't recall there being a reopen button. I opened a new rollover IRA at the Fidelity web site in 2023 and did a transfer from a 401(k) the next day. The process of opening a rollover IRA at the Fidelity web site in 2023 was like it was when I opened the previous rollover IRA a few years ago.

[Chuckles960]

My empty tIRA was closed also, with no reopen button. (It may have been closed for months, I never looked.) I opened a new tIRA and transferred the contribution limit into it, which took all of 30 sec. No big deal, but kind of stupid.

[RetireGood]

My empty tIRA was closed also, with no reopen button. (It may have been closed for months, I never looked.) I opened a new tIRA and transferred the contribution limit into it, which took all of 30 sec. No big deal, but kind of stupid.

Does the new tIRA account # same as old one?

[Late as always]

No reopen button just this warning:

"This account is closed.
However, you can open a new account in minutes - it's quick and easy."

[cabfranc]

I assume the reason I cannot see a reopen option is because it was closed a long time ago and I didn't notice. I will call them tomorrow and see what they say.

[Chuckles960]

My empty tIRA was closed also, with no reopen button. (It may have been closed for months, I never looked.) I opened a new tIRA and transferred the contribution limit into it, which took all of 30 sec. No big deal, but kind of stupid.

Does the new tIRA account # same as old one?

Huh? No.

PS The problem with leaving $0.01 in it is that the account cannot be made invisible in the portfolio..

[placeholder]

No reopen button just this warning:

"This account is closed.
However, you can open a new account in minutes - it's quick and easy."

Why when you can just do what that says?

[Doc7]

I had this issue, so took the 9 seconds it takes on Fido to generate a new Trad IRA acct.

[toddthebod]

I logged onto Fidelity this morning to contribute to my tIRA and it was closed. I called customer service and they said that it was closed because I transferred all the money out and it had a zero balance. I indicated that when I did the last backdoor Roth last January, I selected the option to leave the account open and indicated that it would be extremely annoying if I had to reopen or open a new account every year. The rep did not seem to know the specific rules around closing accounts with zero balances. I have to call a special office within Fidelity to get it reopened tomorrow. I have been doing the backdoor Roth at Fidelity for several years and this has never happened. Anyone else have this issue this year?

You will have spent more time on the phone than it takes to open a new account every year for the next ten years.

[Doc7]

I logged onto Fidelity this morning to contribute to my tIRA and it was closed. I called customer service and they said that it was closed because I transferred all the money out and it had a zero balance. I indicated that when I did the last backdoor Roth last January, I selected the option to leave the account open and indicated that it would be extremely annoying if I had to reopen or open a new account every year. The rep did not seem to know the specific rules around closing accounts with zero balances. I have to call a special office within Fidelity to get it reopened tomorrow. I have been doing the backdoor Roth at Fidelity for several years and this has never happened. Anyone else have this issue this year?

You will have spent more time on the phone than it takes to open a new account every year for the next ten years.

Correct it’s no issue to do that

[nalor511]

My empty tIRA was closed also, with no reopen button. (It may have been closed for months, I never looked.) I opened a new tIRA and transferred the contribution limit into it, which took all of 30 sec. No big deal, but kind of stupid.

Does the new tIRA account # same as old one?

Huh? No.

PS The problem with leaving $0.01 in it is that the account cannot be made invisible in the portfolio..

Yes, you can hide accounts with balance.

[muffins14]

I logged onto Fidelity this morning to contribute to my tIRA and it was closed. I called customer service and they said that it was closed because I transferred all the money out and it had a zero balance. I indicated that when I did the last backdoor Roth last January, I selected the option to leave the account open and indicated that it would be extremely annoying if I had to reopen or open a new account every year. The rep did not seem to know the specific rules around closing accounts with zero balances. I have to call a special office within Fidelity to get it reopened tomorrow. I have been doing the backdoor Roth at Fidelity for several years and this has never happened. Anyone else have this issue this year?

You can just open a new traditional IRA. Nothing wrong with doing so, and it’s fast online.

[H-Town]

I logged onto Fidelity this morning to contribute to my tIRA and it was closed. I called customer service and they said that it was closed because I transferred all the money out and it had a zero balance. I indicated that when I did the last backdoor Roth last January, I selected the option to leave the account open and indicated that it would be extremely annoying if I had to reopen or open a new account every year. The rep did not seem to know the specific rules around closing accounts with zero balances. I have to call a special office within Fidelity to get it reopened tomorrow. I have been doing the backdoor Roth at Fidelity for several years and this has never happened. Anyone else have this issue this year?

Vanguard never does that. Just saying

[Chuckles960]

Yes, you can hide accounts with balance.

No, you cannot, unless it is an authorized account (belonging to someone else).

[nalor511]

Yes, you can hide accounts with balance.

No, you cannot, unless it is an authorized account (belonging to someone else).

Yes, you can. If you are having trouble, turn off ad blocker or contact support.

On the left hand side of the web, there's a gear icon at the top of the accounts list, click it, display/account, check the box for the one you want, hide near the top, apply, done. It's now hidden on Web and Mobile (kill/relaunch). You can also organize them into groups. I add a number in front of custom group name, so that I can get my CMA to the top of the list instead of the bottom.

[PersonalFinanceJam]

Bumping this as a PSA. It appears this is happening again this year. Just looked at my account and the account for my DW. Both were still in the account list but the summary tab had a note that they were closed with a link to initiate the process to re-open them. Took just a few minutes and we are ready for back door Roth 2025! The settled funds are already in a joint taxable account so I'm not expecting any other road blocks.

[VanGar+Goyle]

Bumping this as a PSA. It appears this is happening again this year. Just looked at my account and the account for my DW. Both were still in the account list but the summary tab had a note that they were closed with a link to initiate the process to re-open them. Took just a few minutes and we are ready for back door Roth 2025! The settled funds are already in a joint taxable account so I'm not expecting any other road blocks.

Thanks. That sounds like a better solution than leaving $1 or 50 cent in the account,
as that could be a fatal math complication on a future form 8606 line 6,
especially if you believe that there must be no pre-tax amount in a traditional IRA in order to do a backdoor Roth Conversion .

[neurosphere]

Bumping this as a PSA. It appears this is happening again this year. Just looked at my account and the account for my DW. Both were still in the account list but the summary tab had a note that they were closed with a link to initiate the process to re-open them. Took just a few minutes and we are ready for back door Roth 2025! The settled funds are already in a joint taxable account so I'm not expecting any other road blocks.

Thanks. That sounds like a better solution than leaving $1 or 50 cent in the account,
as that could be a fatal math complication on a future form 8606 line 6,
especially if you believe that there must be no pre-tax amount in a traditional IRA in order to do a backdoor Roth Conversion .

I report any trad IRA with $5 or less as "zero balance" on my 8606 each year. I'll have a team of tax attorneys at the ready should the IRS ever come knocking wanting some of that money.

[roachy]

I had the same thing happen to me. The message on the summary tab says "This account is closed. However, you can open a new account in minutes - it's quick and easy. Open an Account". There is no re-open button and when I called Fidelity the CSR said I have to call back tomorrow when the back office is available to determine if they can re-open the account, or if it has been closed long enough that I must open a new account. I find this rather annoying and do not understand why I was not notified by Fidelity via email, USPS, etc. warning me that my tIRA was going to be closed. Credit card companies always send an advanced warning letter, before closing a card due to inactivity.

[Eno Deb]

FWIW, I had a "reopen" link in my tIRA (balance $0.00). Took just a few seconds.

[MrNister]

I just re-opened my account as well and made a transfer. It took about 10-15 minutes before the account showed on the transfer screen but worked like a charm.

Mr. Nister

[Late as always]

last year about March'24 my account was locked and couldn't be reopened so I had to start a new one. I left about $0.30 in the new account all year finally converting that in December '24. I'll do my backdoor this week and leave a few cents in it again. I can still see that old closed account and I don't want them stacking up.

[bubblegumbogle]

This is very frustrating. I transferred out a Roth mid year from Fidelity to another broker. At that time, I noticed the account banner showing reopen account with a single click. The rep told me I can do it anytime. I forgot about it for 6 months, and came back to it this year only to see Open new account button instead. When I called Fidelity, they said it was not possible to reopen the account with the same account number as a few months had passed, and I would have to open a new account.
Very frustrating since I wanted the same account number to manage all statements and transaction history in one place.

Vanguard also closes account if you transfer out the entire account. They do not have reopen option. Just a heads up.