Get answers to frequently asked questions

All investing – whether through MarylandSaves or anyone else – involves some risk, including the risk of losing some or even all of the money you invest. Except for the funds in your emergency savings fund, the value of MarylandSaves investments can and will go up and down depending on changes in securities markets and other factors.

You should know that your emergency savings funds are an exception: they are guaranteed by a major insurance company. So, for most people in MarylandSaves for the first year or so, their funds will be protected against market losses. 

That depends. Many people have retirement savings accounts, but many who do still think they haven’t saved enough for a secure retirement. MarylandSaves offers the benefits of having a Roth IRA and also gives you an emergency savings feature, which most other retirement plans do not. Before deciding that you don’t need MarylandSaves, you might use the retirement calculator to estimate what your existing plan might pay when you’re no longer working.

If you make a withdrawal from your IRA, you will receive IRS Form 1099-R, which is a tax form that details all of the withdrawals you made throughout the tax year from your account. If you take money out of your retirement account for any reason, you’ll get Form 1099-R. A 1099-R form is called the “Distributions From Pensions, Annuities, Retirement, or Profit-Sharing Plans, IRAs, Insurance Contracts, etc.”

To ensure that you properly handle matters on your federal income tax return, please consult a tax advisor and learn more about Form 1099-R from the IRS directly.

You should receive the 1099-R no later than early February after the calendar year of the retirement account distribution since the plan administrator must send it by January 31. You will receive it via mail or electronic delivery based on your account communications preferences.

If you make a contribution to your IRA, IRS Form 5498 is a tax form that you will receive. This form details all of the contributions you made throughout the tax year to your account. The 5498 tax form reports Roth and traditional IRA contributions.

To ensure that you properly handle matters on your federal income tax return, please consult a tax advisor and learn more about Form 5498 from the IRS directly.

The plan administrator must file Form 5498 to the IRS by May 31 each year — and you will receive a copy of the form. The deadline to file the form is later than other tax forms. This is because your retirement contributions are due for the previous tax year on the tax return due date, tax deadline, which typically falls on April 15 — so the IRS gives the issuers extra time until May 31 to file the form.

This document does not need to be filed with your taxes. Once you obtain Tax Form 5498, keep it for your records.

Yes, we’ve made it even easier to access and handle funds by allowing you to securely log in and connect bank accounts. You can securely connect a bank via Plaid or manually add a bank account.

Yes, you can connect more than one bank account as well as multiple types of bank accounts. Each account and type will need to be connected individually, but you can have both savings and checking accounts linked to their account at one time. 

Log in to your account, go to the “Settings” tab, and click on the “Add a new bank” button. Follow the steps to link a new bank account by connecting via Plaid or manually adding an account.

Keep in mind that you won’t be able to withdraw money to a newly added bank account. There is a 10-day withdrawal hold on manually added bank accounts and a 5-day withdrawal hold on banks added via Plaid.