vojm

I'm needing to start a retirement plan and was thinking about opening a roth IRA account with Vanguard. I'm not too knowledgeable in regards to what funds are good and what stocks are good so being 24, I was looking into their Target 2045 Retirement Fund Summary.

Do you all know if this is a good choice for someone like me who wants to start putting money away? Is there any disadvantage to a program like this such as will I still have the option to move money around in the future into different funds other than the recommended ones by Vanguard?

ReflexRacing_com

I heard good things about the T. Rowe Price Target Funds...That's what I plan on opening my Roth IRA with.....but I'm sure you can't go wrong with the Vanguard one either.

doopstr

You can buy any of the funds that Vanguard offers. Not all funds are always open to new investors. You can buy/sell funds in the roth no problem. If you execute a sale on a fund they will usually prevent you from buying into that fund for 30 days. They do that to keep the fund stable (prevents daytrading).

Only problem with Vanguard is that I believe they now require you to have $3k initial investment for their funds. It used to be $1k for IRAs. Vanguard has one of the lowest management fees you will find.

iTimmy

There are a few Vanguard funds that have fairly high minimums to get into, they will require $20k+ just to purchase them, other wise sound advice.

moonraker

you could also go the route of just opening the IRA with a brokerage and then buying vanguard etf's (exchange traded funds). Same principle but not as wide of a fund selection. But it will get you a lot of the basics, with, more often than not, lower expense ratios.

ReflexRacing_com

I was doing research and if you're like me and you don't have 15-20k sittin' around, T.Rowe has a $1,000 minimum contribution for their Roth IRA

http://ira.troweprice.com/roth_ira.html?phone=6066

**See the "Minimum Contribution" section

Don't know much beyond the basics, but i'm leaving my employer soon and I plan to roll that 401k into my new 401k (if allowed)...then take $1k of my signing bonus with the new company and set up a Roth IRA with a 2045/2050 target fund. and let it marinate...maybe add a grand each year.

special-ed

Roll your 401k over to a brokerage account. You open the doors wide open to a larger pool of investments instead of the limited offering found in most 401k plans.
Don't make the mistake of receiving a check or else you'll get slapped with taxes.

Other option is to look into Life Insurance and "lock" your health in while you're still young and healthy I'm assuming. You'd be amazed how many people in their 50's wish they had or could be approved for insurance. Because once you get sick, hospitalized, or have some medical condition that no longer allows you to be insurable, then you may end up having to dip into your retirement savings to cover medical costs......that's bad.

Protect first, accumulate second, then conserve assets/estate last.



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fish008

Until tax time make all of your contributions to your Roth for 2007 not 08. If you do that you can maximize your available contributions both this year and last. Rolling the 401k to a brokerage account is a much better move than rolling it to your new employers plan. 401Ks have limited investment options and are often more expensive (on going expenses) than rolling it somewhere else. If you were to roll it to an IRA you could at least get some advice from an advisor if nothing else.