Dear noble scholars How do I pay zakat on money invested in a IRA (Investment Retirement Account)knowing that I don't have access to that money until retirement age? Do I calculate the zakat based on the whole value of the IRA at the time of the zakat due date or only the money earned (if any) during the year? Jazakum Allahu khairan

All praise be to Allah, and may His blessings and peace be on His last messenger, Muhammad,

Those pension plans invest in the stock market. Their zakat is like zakat of stocks in general. There are various opinions regarding that, with the one demanding the estimation of the zakatable assets in the companies in which one owns stocks. This may be about 30% of the assets in the stock market. The difference here is that you can’t withdraw all of your assets in those plans without penalties and deductions, so you will need to pay zakat only on the amount you can withdraw today. Given the two above factors, it seems that paying zakat on one fifth of the total investment in those plans is a reasonable estimate.

Allah knows best.