Author Topic: Where to open Roth?  (Read 4946 times)

Marko34

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Where to open Roth?
« on: March 31, 2015, 06:27:54 PM »
I know there have been tons of posts on IRAs on this forum.  I was wondering if there is a clear cut winner as to where to invest.  From lurking and reading this forum for a while, most people seem to prefer Vanguard.  I opened my Mint today and saw an ad for Fidelity that was offering to match up to $650 per year in contributions, which sounded intriguing. I plan to open one in the next month or so once I have 5k ready to go.

So Fidelity, Vanguard, somewhere else?  Are there any other great matches or deals out there, or things to look out for, as a first time IRA owner?

Thanks everyone.

Faraday

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Re: Where to open Roth?
« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2015, 06:33:57 PM »
+1 to Vanguard for Roth, I opened a Roth with them a few days ago. They have lower fees than Fidelity and I love their website, it's way better than Fidelity's. (I have my 401k with Fidelity and have no choice, they are who the employer went with.)

seattlecyclone

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Re: Where to open Roth?
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2015, 06:48:43 PM »
Are you talking about this IRA matching program? Looks like you only get the maximum match if you already have $500k in an IRA that you're willing to roll over. Still, Fidelity's Spartan funds are basically just as good as Vanguard's. If they're giving you money to transfer your account, it's at least worth a look.

Frankies Girl

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Re: Where to open Roth?
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2015, 06:53:30 PM »
+1 to Vanguard for Roth, I opened a Roth with them a few days ago. They have lower fees than Fidelity and I love their website, it's way better than Fidelity's. (I have my 401k with Fidelity and have no choice, they are who the employer went with.)

Vanguard is great and definitely the leader as far as Bogleheads are concerned, but I happen to love Fidelity and think their website and customer service are superior to Vanguard. And if you stick with Fido's Spartan series funds, they are the exact same expense ratios as Vanguard (+/- .02%).

http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Fidelity
^use this to match up the Spartan funds to Vanguard and you'll be fine with Fido

OP -  the Mint deal that included any free money would definitely tip the scales as far as I was concerned all things being equal. If you go with Fido, you could always go with them and see how they work for a year or two and if you don't like them, switch over to Vanguard then.


dragoncar

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Re: Where to open Roth?
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2015, 11:04:14 PM »
I love the idea of Vanguard (investor-owned), but after opening an IRA for my wife on Vanguard, I decided I like Fidelity more.  The website is just more intuitive.  Here's an example of an issue I ran into:  http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=134346

forummm

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Re: Where to open Roth?
« Reply #5 on: April 01, 2015, 07:40:12 AM »
Vanguard for sure. Not even close.

homeymomma

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Re: Where to open Roth?
« Reply #6 on: April 01, 2015, 07:46:17 AM »
I really like Vanguard, and it will be pretty easy especially if you have your 5k ready to go. fees are way low.

however, if you are a total noob (like i was, and mostly still am) betterment is incredibly user friendly and easy compared to vanguard. slightly higher fees but great for a set and forget strategy because they rebalance and do literally everything for you.

forummm

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Re: Where to open Roth?
« Reply #7 on: April 01, 2015, 07:54:59 AM »
I really like Vanguard, and it will be pretty easy especially if you have your 5k ready to go. fees are way low.

however, if you are a total noob (like i was, and mostly still am) betterment is incredibly user friendly and easy compared to vanguard. slightly higher fees but great for a set and forget strategy because they rebalance and do literally everything for you.

Betterment is just buying Vanguard funds and charging you extra. You can just put your money in the Vanguard Target Retirement Fund with the target date that applies to you and Vanguard does the same thing for you (automatic rebalancing)--just with a lower cost.

Faraday

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Re: Where to open Roth?
« Reply #8 on: April 01, 2015, 09:16:32 AM »
I really like Vanguard, and it will be pretty easy especially if you have your 5k ready to go. fees are way low.

however, if you are a total noob (like i was, and mostly still am) betterment is incredibly user friendly and easy compared to vanguard. slightly higher fees but great for a set and forget strategy because they rebalance and do literally everything for you.

Betterment is just buying Vanguard funds and charging you extra. You can just put your money in the Vanguard Target Retirement Fund with the target date that applies to you and Vanguard does the same thing for you (automatic rebalancing)--just with a lower cost.

I've got both Vanguard and Betterment, and at first blush (after only a week with Vanguard), this seems to me to be a correct assessment of the situation.

However, my money in Betterment is post-tax and reachable at any time, my Vanguard is a Roth IRA. So accessibility is a immediate with Betterment. If I lost my income, I could live on what's in Betterment.  If I got those options (immediate access) when I started my Vanguard account, I sure didn't see 'em anywhere...

When you compare performance of both options to my bank's "Mutual Fund Account" that I have been using for my "immediate access" money, they are both vastly superior in every way.

ShoulderThingThatGoesUp

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Re: Where to open Roth?
« Reply #9 on: April 01, 2015, 09:18:33 AM »
I use Schwab and SCHB. No commission, no account fees, very low-cost broad-market fund. Excellent website.