Best hands off Roth IRA company?

[nolanow]

I am planning on opening a Roth IRA next month and maxing it out each year. I want to find a company that will manage the money for me. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best company to open a Roth IRA with?

[COcheesehead]

Hmmm. You're new around here, aren't you?
Name dropping and trolling are frowned upon at this establishment, but have fun.

[nolanow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by COcheesehead Hmmm. You're new around here, aren't you? Name dropping and trolling are frowned upon at this establishment, but have fun.

How am I trolling? It was a legit question and I am trying to learn. I liked them because the first $10,000 they manage for free but thought some people that have been around longer might know more than me.

[COcheesehead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolanow How am I trolling? It was a legit question.

Just wait.

[COcheesehead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolanow How am I trolling? It was a legit question and I am trying to learn. I liked them because the first $10,000 they manage for free but thought some people that have been around longer might know more than me.

This forum is all about self management, low cost and generally index investing. If your first post mentions the name of a company most have never heard of, you're gonna get the trolling moniker. Sorry, it is what it is.

[COcheesehead]

And you changed your answer mid thread. Bad form.

[Another Reader]

I think most people here believe you can do as well or better than anyone, including the lower cost robo advisors like Wealthfront and Betterment. Most people also spend the time to learn about investing so they understand and have confidence in what they are doing. Poke around here and at the Bogleheads website to get a better idea of the philosophy.

[nolanow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by COcheesehead And you changed your answer mid thread. Bad form.

So I deleted the name of the company. Still looking for an answer. Not a very warm welcome to my first post. Just looking for suggestions.

[COcheesehead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolanow So I deleted the name of the company. Still looking for an answer. Not a very warm welcome to my first post. Just looking for suggestions.

You're getting better at this.

[nolanow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Another Reader I think most people here believe you can do as well or better than anyone, including the lower cost robo advisors like Wealthfront and Betterment. Most people also spend the time to learn about investing so they understand and have confidence in what they are doing. Poke around here and at the Bogleheads website to get a better idea of the philosophy.

Thank you for the reply. I have dipped my feet in the stock market and options over the last 10 years. This was extra money that I wasn't considering for retirement. In the last year, my wife and I have started to get serious about retirement and I am hoping to retire in 15-20 years and have never looked at investing for the long haul. I have a state pension that will pay 80% of my salary but I am trying to save to make up that other 20%. Just want to make sure the money I set aside is going to grow over the long haul and that I don't mess anything up.

[Hermit]

Max out an IRA each year if you are in a position to do that. Figure out an asset allocation that works for you. 60/40 stocks/bonds is a good place to start. Use index funds at a low cost broker. Rebalance once a year. Wait 15 or 20 years. You will likely be able to retire without a care in the world! Check out Lazy Portfolio info on Boggleheads.

What not to do: Don't try to beat the market in any way. You will quite likely do much better to just buy and rebalance.

Welcome to the forum!

[Another Reader]

There are no guarantees, but some combination of stocks and bonds will likely do well at growing your money. Index funds and lazy portfolios are the easy "set it and forget it" way to take advantage of the growth in the economy and the markets. Some people like target date funds that rebalance as you get older. Other folks like well managed funds (few and far between) like Wellington and Wellesley. If you read up on the ideas here and at Bogleheads, you should be able to develop an investment plan that works for you.

[samclem]

When you say "manage the money for me," it covers a lot of possibilities. I think it is fair to say most people here would advise you to avoid paying a financial advisor, but if you do choose to have one, get a very low cost one (someone who charges a fixed fee per hour, if possible, not a % of your assets every year).
Investing well is not hard to do yourself. With a Roth IRA, it can be as simple as choosing a low-cost Target Date fund from a reputable low-cost mutual fund company (Vanguard, Fidelity, and T Rowe Price are probably the most popular ones among this crowd). You don't have to mess with it, the assets will automatically be rebalanced as stock, bonds, and other assets gain or lose against each other.
There are some good reading lists here. It is worth your time to read one or two >good< books on investing just so you'll be immune from the sales pitches of those promising to beat the market, etc. You can get better investment results than about 80% of investors >without< beating the market. The key is to keep your costs low, pick a mix of assets (stocks, bonds, etc) that you can live with, and mechanically rebalance back to that mix regardless of what the market does. If you just pick an appropriate Target Date Fund and feed it regularly, the managers there will do the rebalancing and you'll do better than the vast majority of investors.

[DrRoy]

Quote:

Max out an IRA each year if you are in a position to do that. Figure out an asset allocation that works for you. 60/40 stocks/bonds is a good place to start. Use index funds at a low cost broker. Rebalance once a year. Wait 15 or 20 years. You will likely be able to retire without a care in the world! Check out Lazy Portfolio info on Boggleheads. What not to do: Don't try to beat the market in any way. You will quite likely do much better to just buy and rebalance. Welcome to the forum!

+1. This would be pretty simple and you would save the fee every year.

[target2019]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolanow I am planning on opening a Roth IRA next month and maxing it out each year. I want to find a company that will manage the money for me. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best company to open a Roth IRA with?

I use Schwab and Vanguard. They each have management options, but that would be superfluous for many wise investors around here.

Both of our Roth IRA accounts are with Vanguard.

We keep two funds in each account. Each fund supports the overall Asset Allocation we have picked. The bulk of investments are 403(b) and 401(k), and SEP-IRA.

Since your Roth is a small thing initially, you might add something like a low cost REIT fund, or low cost Small Cap fund.

Schwab has better online experience. Support has been flawless.

[target2019]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolanow So I deleted the name of the company. Still looking for an answer. Not a very warm welcome to my first post. Just looking for suggestions.

There are forums where you can drop a quick question and start the conversation. You have found somewhere else. I don't believe you are trolling. There are tools by which you can filter out noise.

I'm guessing your situation is improving financially, and you need advice understanding things. There are a lot of experienced, knowledgeable investors here.

[COcheesehead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by target2019 There are forums where you can drop a quick question and start the conversation. You have found somewhere else. I don't believe you are trolling. There are tools by which you can filter out noise. I'm guessing your situation is improving financially, and you need advice understanding things. There are a lot of experienced, knowledgeable investors here.

No they appear not to be trolling now after several posts, but when the very first post mentions a company on the fringe and appears as spam for that company, (since altered), it seemed fishy. Carry on.

[nun]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nolanow Thank you for the reply. I have dipped my feet in the stock market and options over the last 10 years. This was extra money that I wasn't considering for retirement. In the last year, my wife and I have started to get serious about retirement and I am hoping to retire in 15-20 years and have never looked at investing for the long haul. I have a state pension that will pay 80% of my salary but I am trying to save to make up that other 20%. Just want to make sure the money I set aside is going to grow over the long haul and that I don't mess anything up.

A Vanguard balanced fund will give you all the "management" you need at a low cost.

As you are planning to retire in 15 to 20 years I'd suggest Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 (VTTHX) which will adjust it's asset allocation as you get closer to retirement without you doing anything.

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/fun...NT&FundId=0305

[LOL!]

A single mutual fund of the genre "Target Retirement" or "Target Date" is all you would need. Almost all mutual fund companies have such funds, so pick the one with the lowest expense ratio. That will limit one to about 3 fund companies to choose from.

There is no need to pay any extra for "management" which usually means "stealing money from you."