IRA Advice
- Thread starter SCNCY
- Start date
Suppose it depends on investing style then. I dollar cost average often into low cost mutual funds and that's it. If you want to trade individual stocks with lump sums of money, something besides Vanguard might be for you.
Another thing I appreciate about Scottrade is they have local offices you can stop in anytime to drop off a check, ask questions, etc. It is convenient for me as they have an office on the skywalk in 801 Grand downtown and I believe one in W Des Moines. (Schwab has an office in 801 too.) I'm sure other brokerages have a presence in the metro too. Unless I'm mistaken, Vanguard isn't going to offer you a face-to-face option if that is something you need or care about.
as mentioned, many providers offer free fund and/or ETF trades. you wont be able to own anything other than Vanguard if you go with them. If you open for example a TD account, you can buy your core Vanguard funds along with anything else you might want to own. nothing wrong with buying stocks.
dont get Buffett's message mixed up- he prefers indexing over higher cost hedge funds, but Berkshire itself is a mega case study in the upside of active management.
dont get Buffett's message mixed up- he prefers indexing over higher cost hedge funds, but Berkshire itself is a mega case study in the upside of active management.
The majority of my retirement money is in 401k but I have a little in standard IRA as well as a Roth IRA
In one I'm 80% in
Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Class VFINX
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund ETF Shares VIG
In the other it's more of a mix
AAPL 5%
CAPE 5%
EEM 5%
DODFX 15%
VTHRX 25%
VWELX 25%
VGTSX 15%
Since I don't have much money in these I haven't paid much attention and probably need to do some research. I did have a bunch of dividend stocks in the Roth IRA but most of those I sold. Intel, Vodaphone, Deere, Primoris, Dupont, Corning, Pfizer,
In one I'm 80% in
Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Class VFINX
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund ETF Shares VIG
In the other it's more of a mix
AAPL 5%
CAPE 5%
EEM 5%
DODFX 15%
VTHRX 25%
VWELX 25%
VGTSX 15%
Since I don't have much money in these I haven't paid much attention and probably need to do some research. I did have a bunch of dividend stocks in the Roth IRA but most of those I sold. Intel, Vodaphone, Deere, Primoris, Dupont, Corning, Pfizer,
If you are 26 and already investing in a Roth IRA you are way ahead of the curve.
No matter what you use for an investment firm, the most important thing is to keep investing on a regular schedule no matter where the market is. The Dow hit 14,000 in 2007, then didn't hit 15,000 until 2013 and is close to 17,000 now. In between it dropped to less than 7000.
The people who just kept putting money in through the downturn are doing fine. The money invested at the bottom has more than doubled in 5 years. The people who panicked and pulled their money out are now complaining about how the market is rigged and about how they won't ever be able to retire.
I have used both Vanguard and Fidelity for around 25 years. Vanguard for mutual funds and Fidelity for individual stocks and some mutual funds.
No matter what you use for an investment firm, the most important thing is to keep investing on a regular schedule no matter where the market is. The Dow hit 14,000 in 2007, then didn't hit 15,000 until 2013 and is close to 17,000 now. In between it dropped to less than 7000.
The people who just kept putting money in through the downturn are doing fine. The money invested at the bottom has more than doubled in 5 years. The people who panicked and pulled their money out are now complaining about how the market is rigged and about how they won't ever be able to retire.
I have used both Vanguard and Fidelity for around 25 years. Vanguard for mutual funds and Fidelity for individual stocks and some mutual funds.
I am a T. Rowe Price guy, so I will put a plug in for them since not mentioned yet. They are just a little different and I find they provide excellent personal service and expenses are still low. I don't do a lot of trading or anything like that, just socking money in over time. Rolled over my wife's 401k when she changed jobs to them, and they also did the ESAs for my kids before I switched to 529s.
TRP has very good funds across the board, and also lets you access everybody elses in the brokerage acct. Once you get above a certain $ level, they don't charge any fees for anything.
All that said, Vanguard is great and a lot of my Fidelity 401k is in index funds.
It sounds like you are pretty advanced investor, but one thing I would tell everyone is to check your funds on morningstar to see how they stack up on expenses, risk, and return - in that order of importance. A lot of 401ks (esp smaller companies) get stuck with some lousy fund choices.
I love these personal finance threads.
TRP has very good funds across the board, and also lets you access everybody elses in the brokerage acct. Once you get above a certain $ level, they don't charge any fees for anything.
All that said, Vanguard is great and a lot of my Fidelity 401k is in index funds.
It sounds like you are pretty advanced investor, but one thing I would tell everyone is to check your funds on morningstar to see how they stack up on expenses, risk, and return - in that order of importance. A lot of 401ks (esp smaller companies) get stuck with some lousy fund choices.
I love these personal finance threads.
https://personal.vanguard.com/us/whatweoffer/stocksbondscds/brokerage-services-account
"You can invest with us, manage your money, and access Vanguard ETFs®, stocks, bonds, CDs, and mutual funds and ETFs from other fund companies all in one place"
I would argue that investing in a Roth is table stakes. Being ahead of the curve is being 26 and making too much to contribute to a Roth
I appreciate the advice. I am looking to roll over my 401K in to an IRA. I just got done my masters degree and now can focus a little more on saving for retirement and a house. Looking at multiple services, it looks like they all offer a wide range of investment options. It looks like every service has an ETF or mutual fund for everything from blue chip stocks to tech firms in india and everything in between. I am willing to take risks and want an option that has wide range of risks options.
As I stated before, I have invested in stocks in the past and have used scottrade. I am looking for an investment service so I can begin investing and saving for a house, but also use the same service for an IRA. I want to keep the two accounts under the same roof.
I see TD Ameritrade will give me $600 for opening an IRA, which looks attractive from that aspect. Does anyone with TD ameritrade feel constrained by the amount of investment and risk options offered?
As I stated before, I have invested in stocks in the past and have used scottrade. I am looking for an investment service so I can begin investing and saving for a house, but also use the same service for an IRA. I want to keep the two accounts under the same roof.
I see TD Ameritrade will give me $600 for opening an IRA, which looks attractive from that aspect. Does anyone with TD ameritrade feel constrained by the amount of investment and risk options offered?
I use Vanguard. Vanguard does not charge commissions for purchasing their in house etf's but they do have a buy sell spread. Which is another way of saying they are not totally without cost. Sometimes they will also claim to no-load as far as purchase of a fund but may fee a half or one percent. Since it is paid directly to Vanguard it is not considered a load. All in all I am satisfied with them. They are good about disclosing when and what they charge. Their commissions are tiered based upon the amount of assets you have with them. Like most places they cater to their millionaires. As always caveat emptor.
TD was the self-directed option in my former employers 401k and I was very happy with their offerings, service, and online/mobile interfaces.
otherwise i have everything at WF under the aforementioned PMA relationship with free trades. the WF client interface is lacking but adequate. I like WF because I spend most of my time on the road in the upper midwest and there are a million branches due to the former norwest (and others) connection.
otherwise i have everything at WF under the aforementioned PMA relationship with free trades. the WF client interface is lacking but adequate. I like WF because I spend most of my time on the road in the upper midwest and there are a million branches due to the former norwest (and others) connection.
I would argue that investing in a Roth is table stakes. Being ahead of the curve is being 26 and making too much to contribute to a Roth
You can do a backdoor Roth contribution no matter how much money you make, although in some cases there may be unwanted tax consequences.
The $600 is nice but I guess I would go with one of the big fund companies. You will get some kind of break on their own funds at least. And it feels to me like they are more for the IRA/401k/savings market that seems to be what you are doing, rather than TD Ameritrade or Scotttrade, which I thought were more focused on the "day trader" crowd. I could be mistaken about that. I guess I'd suggest TRPrice, Fidelity, Vanguard -- one of those.
Good luck, and remember to make it rain on CF when you are fabulously wealthy someday.
I have my Roth with Scottrade and my wife has her's with Schwab. I think the Schwab website rocks and makes it very easy to invest and research. Scottrade is decent, but their website is much more difficult to work with.
I'm a Bogglehead disciple so believe Vanguard is a great place to go. The only reason I don't go the Vanguard brokerage route is because I want to have the freedom to invest in non Vanguard related funds. Dodge and Cox is an example of a great mutual fund family that I'm able to buy through both Schwab and Scottrade.
You can't go wrong with most of these choices. Find a website or rep you're comfortable with and start investing!
I'm a Bogglehead disciple so believe Vanguard is a great place to go. The only reason I don't go the Vanguard brokerage route is because I want to have the freedom to invest in non Vanguard related funds. Dodge and Cox is an example of a great mutual fund family that I'm able to buy through both Schwab and Scottrade.
You can't go wrong with most of these choices. Find a website or rep you're comfortable with and start investing!
T. Rowe Price is actually what my 401k is through. Husband has looked through it in more detail and said the fees are similar to Vanguard. If I ever get around to opening some type of Roth IRA, I'll go through Vanguard.
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