I'm 23, an artist (with little hope of a 401K in my future), looking to invest in a Roth IRA. With that decision made, I have no idea how to go about buying one. Some banks seem to have account maintenance fees while others do not. How do I compare banks? How do I know if I'm getting a good interest rate? Should I consider going through a broker? If so, how do I choose a broker?

Any help would be more than appreciated!

Since you are only 23, and this will be your main retirement investment, you should look at mutual funds (either 100% stock mutual funds, or a combination of stock and bond mutual funds, with the emphasis on stocks).

You will have an annual maintenance fee no matter where you go for your Roth IRA, but you can control your costs by choosing low-cost mutual funds to invest in your Roth IRA.

Here are some places to start your search:
T. Rowe Price - http://www.troweprice.com
Vanguard - http://www.vanguard.com
Fidelity - http://www.fidelity.com

T. Rowe Price has a Roth IRA that you can get into for $50 per month. The other two require you to meet their fund minimums, usually $1,000.

Hope this helps. Good luck...

Hey jdonnell --

You should really look into getting into a "Self-Directed IRA". Whether you want a Roth, Trad, or whatever its up to you. But by having control over the amount of return your IRA gains is up to you.

I was referred to iracoach.com through a friend and splurged on their 6-disc program. I was AMAZED, at the information they gave at a level even the most amateur investors, like myself, could understand.

Government funds are best for planning retirement. And there are indeed some good companies. I did a little research but didn't know what I was looking in them. For that I couldn't identify the best option. Thanks to all for such information.

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The beauty of a Roth IRA is that the earnings on any investment grow tax-free, and your distributions from the account go untaxed as well, meaning when you withdraw money during retirement age, the IRS will not tax you on this income. Furthermore, the Roth IRA allows you to withdraw any contributions you made (but not earnings) at any time, penalty and tax-free.

One limitation to the Roth IRA is that your contributions are not tax-deductible, as they are with a traditional IRA. This means that although this income is not available for you to use for many years, you still must pay income tax on it this year. However, considering the benefits of tax-free earnings in an investment account, it seems a small price to pay for most investors, especially if you expect to be in a higher tax bracket come retirement age.

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