Best financial sites (ROTH IRA, ETC)

[WingZero94]

I've heard of edwardjones, vangard, and thats about it. What do you all use and why? Any help is appreciated!

 

[Taggart]

I use Vanguard. My Roth is invested in their S&P 500 Index fund and an international index fund. The 2 big reasons I use them are 1) fees are some of the lowest out there and 2) they are an ethical company and didn't get caught up in the 'late trading' mutual fund scandals. Their customer service is also good.

 

[toekramp]

Originally posted by: Taggart
I use Vanguard. My Roth is invested in their S&P 500 Index fund and an international index fund. The 2 big reasons I use them are 1) fees are some of the lowest out there and 2) they are an ethical company and didn't get caught up in the 'late trading' mutual fund scandals. There customer service is also good.

ya i've heard nothing but good things about vanguard

i've been using fidelity with a fidelity fifty fund for my sep ira...made about 8% this past year, not too shabby

 

[jrphoenix]

You can come see me if you live in the state of Florida. I sell mutual funds for State Farm Insurance (Roth's, MF, IRA's, 401K's, SEP's, etc..). Of you could speek with your local State Farm agent. A lot of the big names don't want to give you much time at all unless you have some serious cash to invest. Tell the local agent you would like to setup an appointment for an IFR 🙂

 

[Blieb]

I use Fidelity.

Their customer service is great. The fees are more than most places, but I think the account features and information they provide makes up for it.

 

[Babbles]

I have been using American Century for a while and have had a good time with them. I have a few different funds and had a pretty good year. YTD is 11.56%, past 12 months is 15.40% and my average annual return is 7.83%. I think my annual average starts from when I created the account my first account in 1999. The big dip in ~2001 kind of screwed up the average, but again this past year I have been pretty happy with American Century.
I have had decent time with their customer service people when I needed it and everything else I can do on the web so I find it pretty intuitive and convinient.

 

[WingZero94]

Well i'm pretty sure i'd do a ROTH IRA because of my tax setup. How much do I invest? What kind of costs am I looking at?

 

[SUOrangeman]

Roth is capped at $3000 for 2004 and 2005; was no more than $2000 prior. I have $150 taken out of my bi-weekly paycheck, so I max out around Nov. 1. Helps having a little extra cash in each check at the end of the year!

-SUO

 

[Blieb]

Originally posted by: SUOrangeman
Roth is capped at $3000 for 2004 and 2005; was no more than $2000 prior. I have $150 taken out of my bi-weekly paycheck, so I max out around Nov. 1. Helps having a little extra cash in each check at the end of the year!

-SUO

I believe it's 4k for 2005 now ...

 

[DaveSimmons]

You can set up a Roth IRA at vanguard.com and get their excellent S&P 500 index fund VFINX without paying any trading fees.

Check their site to see the minimum needed to start the account and the minimum needed to avoid any account maintenance fees.

You could fund an account with money for both 2004 and 2005 if you have that much spare cash. Remember you have until 4/15 to come up with the $3,000 maximum for 2004.

I have a fair amount of VFINX shares myself, but at Schwab. It was a decent choice at the time I was rolling over my 401k in 1999, but there are several cheaper places for a brokerage account.

 

[WingZero94]

So I looked at Vanguard and it looks like i'll need 1000 minimum for a ROTH IRA. That sound right to you guys?

 

[rufruf44]

Sounds about right. Vanguard does charge $10 maintenance fee if your account is below $10K (or maybe 5K for retirement account, can't remember).
If you looking strictly at index fund, the Fidelity's offering currently beat Vanguard's in term of expense ratio.
I was going to suggest Scottrade and just purchase the fund from there, but just remember that they'll be start charging for fund purchases and Vanguard was one of the fund family included. 🙁

 

[DaveSimmons]

That's very common for an IRA account. Most / all mutual funds also have a minimum investment amount, anywhere from $500 - 2,000 for IRA accounts. Check what it is for VFINX in case it's higher than 1,000.

 

[jrphoenix]

Originally posted by: WingZero94
So I looked at Vanguard and it looks like i'll need 1000 minimum for a ROTH IRA. That sound right to you guys?

Yeah most the big names require big bucks.... State Farm is one of the cheapest... $50 a month minimum.

 

[richardycc]

Is vanguard's S+P 500 different from other company's S+P 500 index fund? what makes them excellent, and others are only ok? my company is switch over from Scudder to Vanguard, I picked vanguard's international growth fund, because my scudder's international fund was the only one that are doing good this year, but after looking at the vanguard prospectus, it doesnt look at good at all.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: rufruf44
If you looking strictly at index fund, the Fidelity's offering currently beat Vanguard's in term of expense ratio.

Vanguard has always had the lowest expense ratio until Fidelity dropped their rates recently.

Based on past behavior the Fidelity rate drop is only a temporary teaser rate. Once Fidelity tricks enough people into buying their S&P fund, they'll raise the rate back up again in later years.

Is vanguard's S+P 500 different from other company's S+P 500 index fund? what makes them excellent, and others are only ok?

All funds charge a yearly management fee as a fractional percent of share value, but Vanguard charges less than everyone else (except Fidelity until they raise up again). Over time the difference in fees is compounded so the Vanguard shares grow in value faster.

Other S&P 500 index funds are still a good buy though -- if your 401k plan offers a Fidelity or most any other S&P 500 fund it's still one of the best funds to buy and hold. S&P 500 funds outperform almost all actively managed funds (that use stock pickers) over time.