Have you decided to start your journey towards investing for your retirement, and want to do so by using a no-fee-for-life IRA account? If so, it's important that you fully understand everything that is associated with this account by looking at the fine print of the terms and conditions. You'll want to look out for the following things so that you know exactly what kind of service you're getting.

Account Minimums

Start by looking at the account minimums to simply open an account with the broker. It is common for some brokers to require a minimum balance with the company, while others do not have a minimum at all. If there is a minimum balance, find out what happens if your account balance goes under the minimum. While you may assume that your IRA account is going to continue to grow over time, there may be an emergency where you need to withdraw funds early and want to be prepared.

Investment Options

Look at what sort of investments you can make with the no-fee IRA account. Will you be able to invest in any stock, ETF, bond, or mutual fund that you want, or are you limited to certain funds? In addition, you'll want to verify if every type of transaction doesn't have a fee associated with it, or if you only pay no fees on certain types of investments.

Withdrawal and Transfer Fees

There will come a day when you want to take your money out or transfer it to another brokerage. Find out if there are any fees associated with essentially moving your money out of the account. You will want to make sure that there are no fees to do this, and it doesn't matter how new or old your account is. It can be a complicated process to transfer an account, so there may be fees associated with it. If there is no fee, then it is just one more huge benefit of using the brokerage. 

Customer Service

Make sure you understand the kind of customer service you are getting with a no-fee IRA. Are you pretty much on your own when it comes to getting help using your account, or is there still someone you can pick up the phone to call when you run into trouble? Fully understand the different ways that you can ask a question for when the need eventually comes up.