Said It Here

How do I transfer a minor investment account into a Roth IRA?

Moving money from a child's minor account into a retirement fund usually requires liquidating the assets and reinvesting the cash proceeds once the child starts earning income. This process also raises concerns about managing ownership restrictions before the child legally gains full control of the account at age 21.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Selling the current investments, transferring the cash to a checking account, and contributing it to a retirement account
  2. 2
    Contributing exclusively from the child's new paycheck earnings rather than transferring old account balances
  3. 3
    Asking the child to willingly return the money after receiving it
  4. 4
    Reimbursing oneself from the custodial account for past expenses that benefited the child

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/personalfinance2 people · September 2026

“Is there anything specific I should do or is it just sell, transfer to her new checking and invest in the Roth IRA?”source ↗

Old-Asparagus4733 · r/personalfinance · 2 upvotes

“So here’s my question: what are my options to basically reverse the fact that this money is going to be turned over to him the day he turns 21, per the account policy?”source ↗

pingpongslayer · r/personalfinance

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised