Frequently Asked Questions

An IRA is an individual retirement account (IRA) that allows you to save for retirement with certain tax advantages. The concept is that you put money into an IRA to have it grow in value so you’ll have money to live on after you retire. Because it’s a retirement account, there are IRS penalties if you withdraw from an IRA before retirement. There are several different types of IRAs, but the most common are traditional and Roth.

With a traditional IRA, contributions are made on a pre-tax basis and may be fully or partially deductible from your personal tax return (depending on your circumstances). Generally, amounts in your traditional IRA (including earnings and gains) grow tax deferred. That means account earnings and contributions are only taxed when you withdraw funds. A Roth IRA allows you to make contributions on a post-tax basis up to a specified amount each year. Because you’ve already paid income taxes on the money you contribute, withdrawals of account earnings and contributions after age 59½ are generally tax-free (other restrictions and exceptions may apply).

The biggest difference between a Roth and a traditional IRA is how and when you get a tax break. The tax advantage of a traditional IRA is that contributions are generally tax-deductible in the year they are made. The tax advantage of a Roth IRA is that withdrawals in retirement are generally tax-fee. It may make sense to have both a traditional and a Roth IRA, depending on your circumstances. A Roth IRA and its tax-free withdrawals may be the most tax-efficient for your cash-back rewards (income restrictions apply). You may need to open a traditional IRA if your income level disqualifies you from using a Roth IRA.

No, the BPAS IRARewards program is a merchant-based rewards program, not a credit card reward program. You can collect both rewards simultaneously.

No, the BPAS IRARewards program is not affiliated with a certain credit card or credit card company. The IRARewards program is a merchant-based rewards program.

It’s easy. Just login to your account at u.bpas.com. If you have more than one BPAS account, select IRARewards to manage your account online. You can quickly and easily toggle between both accounts.

There is no cost to open an IRARewards account. To enjoy the many benefits of the IRARewards, there is small monthly fee based on your account balance when you start accumulating cash-back earnings.

As with all investment-related plans, there is a Trustee fee of .35%/year ($3.50 per year for every $1,000 invested). 100% of any revenue sharing payments paid to BPAS will be used to offset your account fees. Fees are deducted from your account, so you never have to pay for them out of your own pocket. To minimize account fees, consider consolidating employer-sponsored retirement plan or other IRA balances into your IRARewards.

When you earn $10 or more in cash-back, it will be deposited into your IRARewards. Please note that it may take a day or two for your account to appear at u.bpas.com after you earn your initial $10.

No, there is no minimum account balance. However, IRARewards won’t appear in your BPAS account list until you’ve earned at least $10 in cash back.

If you have questions please contact BPAS IRA Services at 1-866-401-5272 from 8 am to 5 pm ET.

Yes. Each year, your total contributions to all of your traditional and/or Roth IRAs cannot be more than the annual limit set by the IRS. View the contribution limits here. Since the rewards you earn are treated at IRA contributions, they count toward the total each year.

You will continue to earn cash-back, but because you hit the annual contribution limit, any additional cash back will be held by EvoShare. The cash-back deposits to your IRARewards will begin to flow again the beginning of the following calendar year.

Yes. You may make additional contributions to IRARewards in addition to cash-back you earn (age and income limits may apply, depending on your circumstances). To make a contribution, login to your account at u.bpas.com and select the ACH option to make a one-time transfer from your bank account. Or, follow the instructions on the BPAS Contribution Form.

Yes, consolidating balances from IRAs and other retirement plans may offer you the most flexibility for your accumulated savings. It’s a savvy way to move money between retirement accounts while avoiding taxes and expanding your investment options. Follow these steps to rollover or transfer a balance to your IRARewards:

1. Decide what type of retirement account you want to rollover or transfer (traditional or Roth) and make sure it’s compatible with IRARewards (traditional or Roth). To make sure it’s compatible with your IRARewards account, please review the IRS Rollover chart.
2. Contact the institution that hosts the retirement account balance you want to consolidate to let them know you want to implement a direct rollover or trustee-to-trustee transfer to BPAS IRARewards.
3. Complete the institution’s paperwork, adding BPAS rollover information. Use the appropriate form below:

• BPAS retirement plan rollover form.
• IRA Transfer form

Contact BPAS Participant Service Center if we can assist in any way at 1-866-401-5272.

Your contributions default to an age-appropriate target date fund. These funds are professionally managed and designed to provide a simple pre-mixed portfolio based on your age and approximate retirement date. The portfolio’s asset allocation mix becomes more conservative as you get older and your targeted retirement date approaches. To change how your contributions are invested, login to IRARewards at u.bpas.com and follow the options to Realign Your Account.

Because you’re responsible for tracking and reporting the deductible and/or nondeductible contributions made to IRARewards, we’ve created an electronic ‘file cabinet’ to help you track them. Select My Account, then Contributions, and select the Tracker tab to add information to track your contributions.

Yes, the EvoShare app is available in both the App Store (Apple) and Google Play Store (Android). Login with your EvoShare user name and password, and you can shop online, find local shopping, dining, or book hotels to earn cash-back rewards towards your retirement.

The Safari browser extension was released in January 2021. To facilitate online and local shopping and earn cash-back rewards, you can also download the EvoShare mobile app. Remember to link your credit and debit card(s) online in the EvoShare dashboard so you’ll be ready to activate rewards for shopping at local merchants. The EvoShare app lets you quickly activate rewards on the go.

Yes. You can access your EvoShare dashboard directly from your IRARewards online account without re-entering your credentials. Just login to your account at u.bpas.com and select IRARewards from your account list (if you have more than one account at BPAS). Select Manage EvoShare Account from the home page to access your EvoShare dashboard.

Every time you earn cash-back, you’ll receive an email from EvoShare notifying you of the amount earned. You can also check your earned cash-back in the My Cash-back section of your EvoShare dashboard. Your cash-back earnings will automatically be deposited into your IRARewards each month.

If you don’t see your cash-back, please visit the My Cash-back section on your EvoShare dashboard to complete, and submit a Where’s my Cash-back? form. If you have questions about the cash-back you earned, please review the EvoShare FAQs

EvoShare will periodically email you with friendly updates, plus shopping and hotel recommendations. Here are a few subjects EvoShare may send: a welcome email, periodic updates with cash back amounts earned, apprising you on your $10 initial cash-back threshold, as well as online and local shopping and hotel recommendations.