{"id":20310,"date":"2017-06-14T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resource-center.hrblock.com\/"},"modified":"2021-07-07T10:10:48","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T15:10:48","slug":"is-a-401k-the-same-as-a-traditional-ira","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/income\/retirement-income\/is-a-401k-the-same-as-a-traditional-ira\/","title":{"rendered":"Is a 401K a traditional IRA?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The answer to your question: \u201cIs a 401K a traditional IRA?\u201d is no. There is a difference between 401K and traditional IRA accounts.<\/p>\n<h2>Traditional IRA vs. 401K<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-51643 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/retirement-contributions-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"retirement contributions\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/retirement-contributions-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/retirement-contributions.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>While both plans provide income in retirement, each plan is administered under different rules.<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>401K<\/strong> is a type of employer retirement account.<\/p>\n<p>An <strong>IRA <\/strong>is an individual retirement account.<\/p>\n<h2>Taxes With 401K or Traditional IRAs<\/h2>\n<p>No matter the type of retirement account you choose to open, there will likely be associated tax questions. At H&amp;R Block, we\u2019re here to help. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/filing-options-and-products.html\">With many ways to file your taxes<\/a> with H&amp;R Block, you can opt for in-office or virtual tax preparation, keeping all tax laws related to retirement savings accounts in mind, we can make sure you\u2019re producing an accurate tax return that maximizes allowable tax deductions.<\/p>\n<p>Not in need of tax preparation at the moment? Read more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/income\/retirement-income\/retirement-income-tax\/\">taxes on retirement income, pensions and annuities<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The answer to your question: \u201cIs a 401K a traditional IRA?\u201d is no. There is a difference between 401K and traditional IRA accounts. Traditional IRA vs. 401K While both plans provide income in retirement, each plan is administered under different rules. A 401K is a type of employer retirement account. An IRA is an individual [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-income","category-retirement-income"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Is A 401K The Same As A Traditional IRA? | H&amp;R Block<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn more about the similarities and differences between a 401K and a traditional IRA with help from the tax experts at H&amp;R Block.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/income\/retirement-income\/is-a-401k-the-same-as-a-traditional-ira\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is a 401K a traditional IRA?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn more about the similarities and differences between a 401K and a traditional IRA with help from the tax experts at H&amp;R Block.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/income\/retirement-income\/is-a-401k-the-same-as-a-traditional-ira\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-14T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-07T15:10:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/secure-act-retirement-changes-couple-1080x675.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@HRBlock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hrblock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/income\/retirement-income\/is-a-401k-the-same-as-a-traditional-ira\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/income\/retirement-income\/is-a-401k-the-same-as-a-traditional-ira\/\",\"name\":\"Is A 401K The Same As A Traditional IRA? 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