Age 55: If you permanently leave your job for any reason after you turn age 55, you can receive distributions from your former employer's qualified retirement plans without being socked with a 10 premature withdrawal penalty tax. " On top of the obvious advantages of the benefits of the Roth IRA over other retirement plans as discussed above, it has fewer restrictions on the kinds of investments the funds can be put into such as certificates of deposit and even real estate. Online you can find many IRA companies that help you facilitate these kinds of transaction inside your IRA.