A Roth IRA is a smart way to grow your savings for the future. These investment accounts offer tax-free income when you retire. Of course, any return you see on a Roth IRA account depends on the investments you put into it. Here’s what you need to know about the average Roth IRA return and how it can help you maximize your retirement savings. To find the overall rate of return for your portfolio, divide your return (in dollars) by your original investment. For our example, your return is 0.588, or 5.88% ($294 ÷ $5,0000). There is no typical return for an IRA. Understand that an IRA is not an investment type, it is just an account that gets special tax treatment by the Federal Government. The money in the IRA could be invested in almost anything including Gold, Stocks, Bonds, Cash, CDs, etc.