[prohornblower]

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One of the benefits of a roth ira is that you can use the first 10k towards the purchase of your first home. It also grows tax free which is a huge benefit that most people don't realize how great is.

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I was under the impression one can take out RothIRA contributions up to any amount at any time for any reason tax and penalty free? I think the 10K first-home-purchase thing is for a 401(k).

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]you're wrong (I double checked on wiki)

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You are confusing Earnings (interest) and Contribution dollars. Contributions can be taken out at any time for any reason tax and penalty free. $10K in Earnings can also be taken out for first-time homebuyers.

RothIRA has three categories for dollars, and they all have different implications:

Contributions
Conversions (rollovers)
Earnings (interest)

I just want to clarify that much more than $10K can be taken out to buy a home. If you have 100k in Contribution dollars in there, and 12k in Earnings, you can take out 110K, not just 10k.