Hi fools,

It's about time I opened a Roth, and had a couple quick questions.

1. I've been told that I should open a "self-directed" IRA, so that I can buy and sell stock with the IRA funds. Are they all "self-directed" in this manner? I'm just curious becuase if I'm going to allocate into stocks I think I'd like to be able to allocate to which particular stocks it goes. (obviously, not all of the money, but a small portion, since I want to keep it in low risk).

2. Can anyone recommend a particular brokerage that has reasonable fees? I will be opening with just a few hundred dollars, and try to max out my contribution this year. I was thinking of Vanguard, but does it matter?

Try TD Waterhouse. They did have a no-fee retirement plan program.

Vangaurd fees are a bit stiff for small accounts.


buzman

I noticed that.

Scottrade had no fees + $7 trades. I will have to dig a little deeper to see if there is a required number of trades per month or year.

Try TD Waterhouse. They did have a no-fee retirement plan program.

I believe that TD Waterhouse just started charging $25/year annual fee on their retirement accounts if you don't have $25k in assets with them.

Scottrade. www.scottrade.com

Both my husband and I have roths there, as well as a brokerage account. I'm happy with my decision.

Hope this helps.
Caat

DH and I have our IRAs with Scottrade, too, and are happy with them. Mine is a Roth. There is no fee for purchase of mutual fund shares and the dividends from them are automatically reinvested at no charge.

The statements are easy to understand, too.

Joan