Basic question: Selling stock within Roth IRA

[dr.girlfriend]

Here's where I admit that I've done a good job of putting money in retirement accounts, but mostly left it alone to manage itself (a lot of it is in target funds).  However, I considered Roth IRA contributions to be more like "gambling" money, so I put them into the account in cash and then bought stock that I thought was going to do well. 

One year I put my husband's Roth contribution into Tesla, and that $5k is currently worth about $120k.  I think I should probably sell at least some of it to reduce our risk.  I know the Roth is theoretically tax-free...are there any implications to selling within the Roth account and re-investing in something different?  I feel like I'm just being naive thinking this is "free money" but I wonder if that's a wage-earner mindset, lol.  

[niq]

Congrats on your lotto winnings ... I mean, sound investment in Tesla

[RockNVoll]

Amazing, congrats!

No strings to selling in the Roth and buying something else. You paid the tax on the money when it went into the account and you're now home free, except for perhaps some trading costs.

[dragon's breath]

Nov 7, 2021 14:02:39 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Amazing, congrats!

No strings to selling in the Roth and buying something else. You paid the tax on the money when it went into the account and you're now home free, except for perhaps some trading costs.

This.

If you just want to sell today to take advantage of gains (buy low, sell high), you could move the money into the money market account.  Then take a few days to figure what you want to buy and purchase that.

You just have to make sure you don't remove it from the Roth itself.  That is when you'd run into taxes and early withdrawal penalties.