I am currently a sophomore in college and will earn about $4000 from a part-time job in the spring. I was hoping to open up a mutual fund via a Roth IRA from Fidelity after I get all my money since the minimum deposit for their mutual funds is $2000.
However, I currently have about $1000 at hand (after taking into account for textbooks, emergency fund, utility bills, housing, pocket change, etc). I was wondering if it would be a good idea to open up a regular account and then invest in something like, S&P 500 ETFs with the same brokerage while I wait for my opportunity to open a mutual fund. I'm not sure what or how many to buy, except that I feel like I should at least be doing something beneficial with the money instead of letting it sit there idle until the earned $4000 comes along. Fidelity also provided a list of commission-free ETFs, which makes me wonder if I should buy a couple ETFs in a regular (not retirement) account, in case I want the compounded money later on in mid-life (to buy a car or house, for instance to minimize mortgage).
Basically, is there any advantage of putting the $1000 into a regular account right now instead of holding onto it to combine with the Roth IRA I will open up at the end of the spring? What if, for instance, I want to buy a car about 10 or 15 years down the road?