I've been reading quite a bit about the Roth IRA setup and understand the contribution rules for the most part, but one answer (clarification?) still eludes me: If you are not starting the Roth IRA with money from a traditional IRA conversion, how much can you put in the account when you start it?

I'm not clear on whether an 'initial' contribution is the same as that year's 'annual' contribution. Or, would it be analagous to opening a brokerage account (which theoretically have no upper limit) and then converting that account to a Roth IRA?

Any Foolish enlightenment on this issue would be helpful.