Your broker hasn't mentioned the hidden fees. That's where he makes his money. The hidden fees include the loads, or sales charges on mutual funds, and the brokerage fees on stocks purchases and sales.

As Micheal mentioned in the previous post, you mange your IRA, and that's what the typical broker wants. They want you to call and talk about the stocks you are holding, what they are recommending today, what's hot what's not, etc., etc. That way, you will become a stock trader, not an investor. An investor buys stocks and holds them for long periods of time.

At the bottom of this page, there is a link to the Fools retirement planning area. Take some time to read their retirement primer, and the IRA section. You'll be glad you did.

HTH,
Tony