Roth IRA

[BigBiker]

For those of you who have invested funds into a Roth Ira how do you know which company to go with? Who has the lowest fees and best return rates? Do you have any suggestions on a good place to invest into a Roth Ira online? Thanks ahead of time!


BB

 

[Sassy]

Form what I understand you can set up a "Roth" IRA with any fund company or bank. In other words if you want to go really conservative you can make a CD from your local bank a "Roth" IRA.

You just need to talk to one of the fund advisors, so they can help you chose a fund. I like the T.Rowe Price 2030 fund (I think that's the name of it) any way the reason I liked it was because it adjust for you. I'm suppose to retail in 2030. They adjust the investment type (cash/stocks/bonds/etc) ratios for you as you get older. This was the first of it's kind when I was rolling over my 401K from work, but now all the fund companies are offer this type account.

The main thing to ask for is a "No-Load" mutual fund. These are mutual funds that don't charge any commission to purchase them. They may have a annual maintenance fee, but when you reach their minimum balance these fees are waved.

You can compare mutual funds by their "Average Annual Total Returns" they will report 1 year / 5 year and 10 year performance and their yields to see how well they performed long-term. Write down any questions you may have and don't hesitate to call a fund rep to ask question... that is what they are there for... even if you decide you don't want that fund/company. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

I currently have Vanguard and T.Rowe Price accounts. There are other good companies such as Merrill Lynch, Smith-Barny (this is current 401K from work), Eaton Vance, Legg-Mason, Fidelity... you can pick up a Money or Forbes magazine to learn about other good fund companies. Some other good sites to learn about mutual funds are Morning Star, The Motely Fools and MSN.com gives some info too on stocks & mutual funds.

Good luck... I hope this helps.

 

[Uluwatu]

Form what I understand you can set up a "Roth" IRA with any fund company or bank. In other words if you want to go really conservative you can make a CD from your local bank a "Roth" IRA.

You just need to talk to one of the fund advisors, so they can help you chose a fund. I like the T.Rowe Price 2030 fund (I think that's the name of it) any way the reason I liked it was because it adjust for you. I'm suppose to retail in 2030. They adjust the investment type (cash/stocks/bonds/etc) ratios for you as you get older. This was the first of it's kind when I was rolling over my 401K from work, but now all the fund companies are offer this type account.

The main thing to ask for is a "No-Load" mutual fund. These are mutual funds that don't charge any commission to purchase them. They may have a annual maintenance fee, but when you reach their minimum balance these fees are waved.

You can compare mutual funds by their "Average Annual Total Returns" they will report 1 year / 5 year and 10 year performance and their yields to see how well they performed long-term. Write down any questions you may have and don't hesitate to call a fund rep to ask question... that is what they are there for... even if you decide you don't want that fund/company. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

I currently have Vanguard and T.Rowe Price accounts. There are other good companies such as Merrill Lynch, Smith-Barny (this is current 401K from work), Eaton Vance, Legg-Mason, Fidelity... you can pick up a Money or Forbes magazine to learn about other good fund companies. Some other good sites to learn about mutual funds are Morning Star, The Motely Fools and MSN.com gives some info too on stocks & mutual funds.

Good luck... I hope this helps.

Some good advice Sassy. Remember big biker, the roth ira is just a a basket to hold your investments. You can put stocks, mutual funds, bonds etc into that basket. I would suggest you find your self a good broker, if you don't have the time or knowledge to do it yourself. But even then you must keep track of your investments. Finding a good broker is not easy. Normally the good brokers take people with lots of money to invest. So if you don't have a lot of money to invest and a good recommendation from someone you trust, be careful. Do your homework, don't just go with the first broker you meet. When you find a good broker make sure you follow your portfolio, don't just leave it up to the broker. Remember it is YOUR money.

As far as mutual funds are concerned, when you look into them and compare the returns, I suggest you compare 5 or 10 year returns. Make sure if the fund had good returns, that the fund manager is still the same person. The fund manager is probably the most important part of the mutual fund. He or she controls how the funds are allocated in the mutual fund.

Good luck with you investments....and please remember it is your money watch it closely.

 

[Sassy]

Thanks, Uluwatu. You've added some good advise.

BigBiker, just keep in mind that a fund manager has a bunch of clients. Typically they are going to be more interested in those clients that have the big bucks. That's why us small investors have to keep a closer watch on our funds.

An example, I had a Janus fund as IRA. When I first open the account it was kicking as$, then the stock market went down and the fund went down. Ok, no biggie... I'm in this for the long haul and it should level back out. Well, my other funds leveled back out when the market got better. Janus didn't it continued to struggle. My brother is a CFP (Certified Financial Planner), so I asked him about the fund. Well it was having management problems and he told me I should problem get out of it. I didn't and low and behold it was one of the funds that was caught market timing. I'm such a small investor that this really didn't effect me too much, but I just didn't like the way the fund was being handled, so after 10 years with Janus I moved it to Vanguard. Those funds are doing much better now. I don't know how the Janus fund is doing... more than likely they pulled it out of it's slump, but I just feel better about moving it.

Another example, Charles Schwab started charing all these fees if you didn't meet their minimum balances which I could not meet. My funds were lagging, so they were losing money and I was paying fees out the butt. It was costing money to stay with them. That's when I looked into other funds and decided on Vanguard and T. Rowe Price. It's not that Schwab is a bad company. It just seemed to me that they were only interested in big time investors. They just didn't seem to meet the needs for small investors.

There will be times where you need to take a look at your funds and re-evaluate them. If you don't feel like they are working for you, then don't be afraid to move them. For the most part, leaving fund in for long periods are ok because there will be good years and bad years, but it averages out in long term. I hope that makes sense.

 

[bulldog21]

Fideltiy Investments have some really good mutual funds........

 

[Shelby]

What do y'all think of Vanguard?

 

[buffbabeca]

i love vanguard Iberk.. i have had a 401K with them for years..... they are awesome and their customer serivce is top notch

 

[Sassy]

^Same here... their top notch! I have two mutual funds and one 401K rollover with them. I'm going at moving my money market to them when I switch banks after we move into our new place.

 

[BigBiker]

thanks

Im am fairly new to investing and want to do my homework before i go and put my money somewhere that i may never see it again. I appreciate all your feedback. Im meeting with one of my professors from a finance class whom has been helping me thus far later this week so Ill keep you posted on what I go with. Thanks again!~


BB

 

[drwost]

Do you guys do this online or do have to call your rep/broker?

 

[Amazon Doll]

my understanding of a Roth is that you can only invest $4000. per year into this type of account.

Is that correct?

 

[Sassy]

It's been awhile now. I don't think I set them both up online. I know I did one of them. I do all my transactions online. It's really easy, and very secure. If you are unsure about online investing, you can go online and download the applications and mail them in.

 

[Sassy]

my understanding of a Roth is that you can only invest $4000. per year into this type of account.

Is that correct?

Yes, depending on your situation... leave it to our government to complicate things.

Vanguard has a table **broken link removed**