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Accessing your IRA is easy with new Entrust Group debit card

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11-17-2008

BY PHYLLIS FURMAN
DAILY NEWS BUSINESS WRITER

Sunday, November 17th 2008

You may have heard of the 401(k) card, the debit card that makes borrowing from your 401(k) plan as easy as heading to an ATM. Now its cousin is coming to the market: the IRA Card.

This latest piece of plastic offering quickie access to your retirement funds is from the Entrust Group, an administrator of self-directed Individual Retirement Accounts.

The card, which launches Monday, lets you draw from your IRA savings and do other things like change investment allocations within your account, in a flash.

To get started, you set up an IRA checking account with a minimum deposit of $1,000. You can then tap into those funds with the IRA Debit card - which is co-branded with Visa - or with IRA Card checks.

"The IRA Card is the new and improved way to access your Individual Retirement Account," said Entrust CEO Hugh Bromma.

"It's just like any other debit card. You can use it at a store, restaurant or travel agency."

But critics of products like the IRA Card and 401(k) cards warn they can be dangerous because they allow you to quickly tap into funds that should be locked away and growing for your retirement.
"Retirement money is to be used for retirement," said John Graziano, a CPA with Future Financial Planners in Bayonne, N.J.

The card comes with hefty fees, including a $75 annual administration charge, a $20 monthly maintenance fee and $5 for each transaction.

For now the IRA Card will be available only to customers whose self-directed IRAs are administered by Entrust.

But the company is looking to license the product to other financial services companies.
Bromma noted that unlike 401(k) cards the IRA Card allows you to quickly make investment moves in your account.
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