I have been contributing to my Roth IRA at Fidelity for 2 years now (this being my second year). There are a million hypotheticals on how much money this account will gain. On a realistic note, it depends on how you invest the money. When you are in the ages of 18-30 you should definitely go aggressive (80%+ in stocks). I was intimidated at first, but after talking to Blueprint, I got a better understanding of it all. Here is my recent experience.
If you don’t know what a Roth can do for you, here is a couple of tips. The Roth IRA is a post tax contribution. Meaning if you have any extra money laying around and can afford to tuck away a few grand, do it in a Roth. The best thing about it is that you can withdraw your contributions to the account without penalty (there may be fees involved with the brokerage company you are with). And when you retire all of the money that you earned in the account will be tax free! This may or may not benefit you in the end.
I decided on Fidelity as my brokerage firm, due to great customer service and the reputation of the firm. They don’t have the cheapest stock trading fees, but they are comparable to all the others, such as, Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, AIG, etc. Fidelity has treated me well. Opening and funding the account was a snap online and you can make your first deposit electronically from your bank. Once the account is funded you can go out and purchase stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, and/or bonds. Whatever tickles your fancy. Once my money has cleared in my account I will do a play by play of what I did to buy stocks and you can learn with me. Let’s see what happens in a couple of days.
