Investing Insights

Thanks to its tax benefits, your IRA can be a powerful tool to optimize your portfolio. Investment firms often see a big influx of new contributions into individual retirement accounts in the early part of each year as investors rush to meet the April 15 deadline. If you’re one of the many investors adding new funds to your IRA, Morningstar’s director of personal finance and retirement planning Christine Benz has some ideas on how to make the most of those contributions and improve your portfolio in the process. How to Get the Most Out of Your IRA Contributions On this episode:   00:00:00 Welcome 00:01:16 2026 IRA Contribution Limits 00:01:45 How to Decide Between a Traditional and Roth IRA 00:03:52 Stock Investing Mistakes to Avoid With Your IRA 00:05:20 How to Invest Your IRA When You're Early in Your Career 00:08:13 How to Assess Your IRA in the Middle of Your Earning Years 00:10:23 The Advantages of Non-US Stocks and How to Diversify Your IRA 00:14:30 How to Derisk Your Portfolio as You Approach Retirement 00:16:47 Rebalancing Your IRA Without Tax Consequences 00:17:48 Is it ever too late to Contribute to Your IRA?   Watch more from Morningstar: 3 Winners and 3 Losers from Emerging-Market Funds’ Big Rally How New Retirees Can Spend More Without Risking Their Savings Beyond AI: Are Quantum Stocks the Next Big Thing in Tech Investing?   Follow Morningstar on social: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MorningstarInc/ X https://x.com/MorningstarInc Instagram https://www.instagram.com/morningstarinc/?hl=en LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/morningstar/posts/?feedView=all Editor's note: An earlier version of this episode published with the wrong episode name and description. Both have been updated.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.