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Which is best for a Roth IRA: Fidelity, TD Ameritrade, or Vanguard?


I am 18 years old and looking to start a Roth IRA. As I don't have a ton of extra income I'd like to keep fees as low as possible. After some initial research, I've narrowed it down to these three companies. I am interested in investing in mutual funds and stocks. Which of these would be the best to start the IRA with?

Edit: I understand that I am able to withdraw contributions at any time (though its not a great idea... but in the case of emergency it's alright), so I am not entirely concerned about liquidity/emergency fund. I feel safer with these more established brokerages rather than a ten year old one thousands of miles away - it's just a matter of which one to use.

If your current/future employer offers an employee 401k plan. Invest up to the matching % of your employers contribution. That matching % is free money and equals a great rate of return for your money. If plan offers an election to invest in a money market fund you may want to invest in it until you learn more. Of course your dollar cost avg over the years should be on your side since your 18 and have many years of investing ahead. Next invest in a Roth IRA up to the max allowed(yearly). If you then have more money to invest, go back to your 401k plan and invest the max allowed(yearly). So after you do all the above and want to invest more you should be able to decide how. Only invest money that you can afford to lose. Making some quick money is nice but if you lose it, it gets right ugly.

You may also think about ETF's instead of mutual funds, stocks. and options. Most ETF's will have a lower expense than mutual funds.
http://finance.yahoo.com/etf

As for which company is best, TD has a $500 initial deposit and looks to be the cheapest in fees when buying more than 1,000 shares. I also liked their trading platform. Fidelity has $2,500 initial or $200 month/$600 quarter deposit. Vanguard has a $3,000 flat initial. So I would and will more than likely choose TD. Plus we have 401k with Fidelity and I believe in never having all your eggs in one basket.

Try what you learn on demo sites. They can be a very fun but educational way to learn from mistakes. If you pick 75% right with play money then you might be ready to start slowly investing.
http://simulator.investopedia.com/
http://simulator.zacks.com/
http://www.fxcm.com/open-free-100k.jsp
http://www.alpari-idc.com/en/metatrader4...
Or just google for more.

I use Lightning Strikes Trading System for trading in any time frame and it works on forex, stocks, bonds, etf's, mutual funds, etc... They have 3 free training sessions a week and you don't have to buy the software to join in the live chat and text. You can even watch some recorded past live sessions. Here are some past charts that I used.
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R0zjjaZ...
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16RxjOUQt...
There are 7 indicators (2 short, 2 medium, and 3 long term) and if volume is reported another one is added (on balance volume). Plus whatever time-frame is used the 2 green horizontal lines are the support and resistance for that time frame. So when indicators are all touching the bottom price is at or very, very near support. At top is at or very, very near resistance. Which helps my entry/exits and risk/reward ratio.
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R9Wv-wt...
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/MB16R9wSKdV...
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QCt6R2fYIj6...
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QCt6R3R0VQe...
If you can not view charts above I can email them.

Here are my favorite sites.

http://stockcharts.com/
Has basically all you need from fundamental to technical terms. Plus stock screens, charts, public chart lists, and much more useful info.

https://www.fidelity.com/
Has good learning resources.

http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp
In addition to yahoo finance.

http://www.reuters.com/
For news and more.

http://www.marketwatch.com/default.aspx
For news and more.

http://www.valueprime.com/index.php
For rating stock risk/reward ratio and reports.

http://www.barchart.com/
For investing in more than stocks.

http://www.investopedia.com/
For more great learning tools.

http://www.lightninglive.com/
For best software timing your entry/exits any time frame for day traders and long term investors.

Others worth exploring.
http://www.equis.com/
http://www.stockta.com/
http://www.secform4.com/

Best Wishes,
Burt Whitley

You want to get an IRA that is non taxable ..look into it better yet find an agent or if you don't want to pay go to your nearest H&R block they can give you more info. Stocks right now hold off . Hopefully soon you can start buying its shaky.

You would be better off not to use a Roth IRA to lock yourself in as if you ever need those funds for an emergency the tax rate for early withdrawal would make you cry. Better to open an offshore account with www.thalessecurities.com in Panama and be tax free as foreigners are allowed to do in the U.S. Totally secret account!

A Roth IRA is exactly what you need. If you start one at the age of 18, you will have well over a million dollars at the time of withdrawing your money.

I would give much thought to opening an offshore account.

If you intend to directly invest in stocks within the IRA, you'll need a brokerage account. For mutual funds, go with Vanguard for low fees. The decision is not irreversible as IRA accounts can later be transferred from one custodian to another.

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