Decided on a ROTH IRA what broker or mutual fund company do i choose?

[pmoa]

I have decided to go with a ROTH IRA. I have heard of sharebuilder with a 25/year maintanence fee and ameritrade is free with a 1000 dollar minimum. who do you guys use????

 

[PunDogg]

i use AIM, and fidelity for my stocks and stuff, i just have my IRA, and stocks(mutal funds)

Dogg

 

[Storm]

I use Scottrade. They dont have maintenance fees.

 

[toekramp]

sep-iraaaaaaaaaaaaaa

 

[pmoa]

i looked into a SEP IRA....I am self employed.....whats the difference between SEP IRA and a SE 401(k)???

 

[aircooled]

Vanguard. And don't touch it until you retire...

 

[SuperTool]

I got vanguard

 

[IGBT]

..mine's with WellsFargo.

 

[ttown]

For individual stocks, I'd say look into ameritrade, scottrade or muriel siebert (no personal experience with any of those 3, but my research tends to favor m.siebert)
I recently saw an ad for ameritrade for 30 free trades -- I believe it was a banner ad while browsing morningstar.com -- if you expect to be a frequent trader.
I'd avoid e-trade and waterhouse because of high fees/costs -- as for "services"/info, t.d.waterhouse is good. I regret being involved w/e-trade.

For mutual funds, I'd recommend vangard, charles schwab, and t.rowe price -- depending on if you can meet minimum levels to avoid costs
(I have positive experience with all these 3)

 

[DaveSimmons]

vanguard.com and buy their VFINX S&P 500 index fund. If you have the money, you can contribute for both 2004 and 2005 now (any time before april 15) to meet the $5K minimum to avoid fees.

 

[gopunk]

why the hell are there so man investment threads all of the sudden...

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: gopunk
why the hell are there so man investment threads all of the sudden...

because people getting money off their tax returns?

 

[Yossarian]

yeah, this is the time of year when people pay attention to where their money is going. I need to do a big analysis of all my stuff too after I get these taxes out of the way.

 

[ttown]

Everyone should be thinking about this stuff BEFORE they do their taxes... not AFTER

just my opinion....

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: ttown
Everyone should be thinking about this stuff BEFORE they do their taxes... not AFTER

just my opinion....

Well, a Roth IRA is after-tax money not-pre-tax like a trad IRA, so it has no effect on your tax bill.

One of the best things you can do with your tax refund is use it to help start a Roth IRA. The best thing is to pay off any high-interest credit card debt, but only if you then have the discipline to stay out of debt instead of just putting on new charges.