Timeline for Which Roth IRA is the best for a 21 year old who has about $1500?
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| Dec 20, 2011 at 2:23 | comment | added | JohnFx♦ | @Dark Templar - You are comingling two completely separate things. Don't mix the decision of what type of account (Roth/Traditional IRA) with the choice of brokerage. Those are completely different concerns. | |
| Dec 20, 2011 at 2:21 | comment | added | JohnFx♦ | There are Roth IRAs and Traditional IRAs, both of which will be available at any (including discount) brokerages. If you want to know the differences, check out this question: money.stackexchange.com/questions/5/… | |
| Dec 19, 2011 at 21:44 | comment | added | JTP - Apologise to Monica♦ | @DarkTemplar - These are questions in their own right. Ask, and you'll get responses. | |
| Dec 19, 2011 at 21:19 | comment | added | onaboat | Do you know what the difference is between a Roth IRA and a discount brokerage IRA account? It seems that some people are actually telling me to go with the latter rather than the Roth IRA and I'm not completely sure why since this is aiming for a long-term investment. And also why people are encouraging "ETFs" as the investment choice to go with once the IRA is set up, so I was wondering what it is that makes ETFs so special? | |
| Dec 19, 2011 at 21:12 | comment | added | onaboat | Ok so it looks like I'll probably have to look into the details of each broker from here on. It looks like there won't be a clear-cut, easy answer to this and the best option may end up being just randomly pick one, and go with it instead of trying to find the broker that will squeeze out the most optimal deal/plan | |
| Dec 19, 2011 at 19:46 | comment | added | littleadv | @DarkTemplar - the name of the broker has no meaning whatsoever. What matters is the services the broker provides. Some provide no-fees-trades for certain funds and under certain conditions, others charge less or more on ETF trades, etc. For example, Etrade charge $14.99 per trade (IIRC), while Scottrade charge $7 per trade. While you can invest in exactly the same stocks with either of them one will cost twice as much as the other. Is it worth it? E*trade has a much better (IMHO) platform for trading. Would I pay twice as much for that? No. Would you? Only you can know that. | |
| Dec 19, 2011 at 19:41 | comment | added | onaboat | I see so you're saying that in the grand scheme of things, the name or identity of your broker does not matter at all, right? You mentioned something about liking their prices, so I was wondering how that would come into play...? | |
| Dec 19, 2011 at 19:11 | comment | added | JohnFx♦ | I have two. One that my employer picked (Fidelity) for my work plan. I also have a separate one with Schwab. Though my choice had nothing to do with the ROTH itself, they are all the same. I just liked their prices and web-site tools. Pick a broker you like and go with them. | |
| Dec 19, 2011 at 19:08 | comment | added | onaboat | Hmmm... just curious, then.. where did you go to open up a Roth IRA? Was there a reason or two that made you decide to go to that company instead of the others that are out there that provide Roth IRA accounts? | |
| Dec 19, 2011 at 19:04 | history | answered | JohnFx♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |