IRA - I'm New to this forum

[kestrel0222]

Hi,

I am a 47 year old male who is trying to find out which investment company offers the BEST roll-over and Roth IRA. This may be a "too general" type of question, but I don't know were to start. I already have both, a traditional IRA from a previous job and a Roth IRA, both established with a local bank (Comerica). My question is, would I get better returns with a company like Fedelity or some other Large inverstmant company instead of my local bank?

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Dawg52]

I would recommend Fidelity or Vanguard. Both are good. As far as best returns, depends on what you have your money in. Both will be able to give you some advice. Also do some reading before you talk to them. You need to have some idea what your allocation should be. Take a look at this website.

BTW, welcome to the forum.

The Coffeehouse Investor

 

[travelover]

Welcome Kestrel. You have come to the right place. As you learn more here, you will come to understand more about basic retirement investing. And the good news is that it is not complicated and many here will help you.

 

[tightasadrum]

Welcome Kestrel,

First thing I'd check would be whether your bank might be paying itself a little bit of your money for your business. I wouldn't be surprised.

They're not a bank, but my DW & DD have had a small joint account with H&R Block for several years. I have been pleading with them to close it out and move it to Fidelity. H&RB takes all their dividend earnings from a stock in the account and holds it in some kind of savings account that pays next to nothing. On top of that there's a "fee" for the priviledge of being robbed. Go figure.

I finally got them to fill in the forms to start the process of getting out, which I had to fax in. Now they're receiving mail from the corporate office suggesting that DW & DD perhaps may not be happy with the local branch so please call the corporate office and enjoy much better service and help. It makes me want to puke on their corporate shoes.

Fidelity and Vanguard make lots of money because they are so large. Think economy of scale. Banks tend to find clever ways to get your money, i.e. fees, loads, and poor returns.

Again, welcome.

 

[jIMOh]

You need to take a step back and learn a few things.

There are investments- CDs, Bonds, Money Markets and stocks, for example. This is the portion of the portfolio which makes money.

There are wrappers. 401k, Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, taxable accounts for the investments.

The wrapper may assess fees beyond what the investment assesses (and these fees would decrease the return). In addition the wrapper can be applied by Fidelity, banks or other companies which are allowed to hold the investments.

So it's probably possible to get a similar investment at Fidelity with a higher return because Fidelity's fees are lower than your banks. One exception to this might be that Fidelity does not sell/allow CDs within Fidelity accounts. Money markets might be a close equivalent though.

IMO you need to ask your self what your goal is, and then ask how to achieve that goal, and that might tell you whether your bank is providing you value.

 

[kestrel0222]

Thank you all for your information and comments. I went though a divorce almost 5 years ago and my ex-wife managed to get at least half of everything that we had to that date. Although it wasn't all that much, it made a big impact on my furture retirement. Since the divorce, I have been able to put away almost $57000. I could not put anymore then the law will allow me to put into my Roth ($4000 max this year and $5000 next year). The remainder of the $$$ I put into a high yeild (well,,,,, better then the local banks) savings account with INGDirect. Most of that money in a CD (6 month) at 4.9% interest.

Tom