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Roth IRA question

Posted on 8/25/09 at 10:39 am
Posted by Hammond Tiger Fan
Hammond
Member since Oct 2007
16409 posts
Posted on 8/25/09 at 10:39 am
I want to open up two accounts...one for my wife and one for myself. Which brokerage firm is the best to open an account with. Good service, low fees, etc. I'm a novice at investing so I'm trying to learn. I will be investing mostly in mutual funds with these account, but I will also dabble in a little individual stock investing. Any advice will be helpful. Thanks in advance.
Posted by TopWaterTiger
Lake Charles, LA
Member since May 2006
12025 posts
Posted on 8/25/09 at 4:13 pm to
Go talk with some brokers at local banks. By local I mean like a Whitney Bank, not Chase Bank. Fees usually cheaper at the smaller shops vs. the big boys. Shop around. Everyone can pretty much sell the same stuff.

Posted by Jason9782003
Member since Aug 2007
3724 posts
Posted on 8/25/09 at 5:57 pm to
I use Edward Jones, and I'm very happy with them.
Posted by Signature
Omnipresent
Member since Sep 2005
6740 posts
Posted on 8/25/09 at 11:18 pm to
Honestly, Edward Jones is probably your best bet. The local banks usually just stick a CD in the IRA. Sit down with a EJ guy that makes you feel comfortable.
Posted by foshizzle
Washington DC metro
Member since Mar 2008
40599 posts
Posted on 8/26/09 at 12:32 am to
If you want to self-direct your investments Schwab is tough to beat.
Posted by tiger91
In my own little world
Member since Nov 2005
40012 posts
Posted on 8/26/09 at 9:23 am to
We have all of our things with Edward Jones ... we are pleased with them.
Posted by TigerGrl73
Nola
Member since Jan 2004
21427 posts
Posted on 8/26/09 at 10:06 am to
I use Vanguard.
Posted by tirebiter
7K R&G chile land aka SF
Member since Oct 2006
10727 posts
Posted on 8/26/09 at 10:57 am to
+1 for Vanguard, they traditionally have the lowest cost funds which is a big ally to small investors. I am fairly certain if you sign up for electronic delivery of documents there is no annual fee. I will bite my tongue on Edward Jones, but I could unload on multiple bad experiences from people I know that used them and lost shite tons of money.

VBS, Vanguard brokerage services, is not for traders, one has to have over $500k in Vanguard assets to reach reasonable commission cost which improves for those with over $1M in assets.

If you are starting out with small sums I don't see a need to hold individual stocks, you are subjecting yourself to systematic risk from an individual security that could be minimized by choosing a diversified mutual fund, indexed or otherwise.
Posted by bengalbrother
Member since Aug 2009
28 posts
Posted on 8/26/09 at 11:06 am to
Most people don't know this but New York Life does this as well. That is who I would contact.
Posted by Signature
Omnipresent
Member since Sep 2005
6740 posts
Posted on 8/26/09 at 11:22 am to
NY Life does do that. What Is NY Life? An insurance company.... They will offer you one choice of funds. (Mainstay). Believe me, for your investment needs go with an investments firm. Jones does get a bad rep because of the way they throw pretty much every financial advisor out there and sees who makes it. Therefore, they do have some less than impressive Financial Advisors floating around. That's why you need to more importantly than anything do your due diligence and find someone that you are comfortable doing business with.
Posted by bengalbrother
Member since Aug 2009
28 posts
Posted on 8/26/09 at 1:21 pm to
SGTiger needs to read up on NYL. Mainstay is something they offer but not the only option. Look at the company strenghth compared to anyone else right now. They are booming in this economy when others are going under. Good try!!
Posted by Signature
Omnipresent
Member since Sep 2005
6740 posts
Posted on 8/26/09 at 2:14 pm to


I see that you work as an insurance agent at NY Life....

Believe me talking investment quality between EJ and NY Life is night and day. The full service brokerage firms are going to have the best of the best investments to chose from to facilitate their clients needs, NY Life will have a couple strong funds and then it drops off quickly. NY Life simply doesn't have the selection of quality funds. I literraly just had a referral on an account from NY Life that had 400k plus in 3 funds. (High Yield Bond Fund(almost 90 percent in under BBB). A fidelity growth and income and of course a mainstay growth. A 3 pack on 400k... And we all know that The Fidelity fund crashed in 08 to the tune of -43%. The said client is 64 Yrs old.

You can call it an Isolated incident if you wish... And I'm not getting into a pissing match on a message board.

Simply replying to your comment that I need to do my homework.

For INVESTMENT NEEDS go to an investments firm.
And I certainly am not a General Partner of Edward Jones
This post was edited on 8/26/09 at 2:16 pm
Posted by TopWaterTiger
Lake Charles, LA
Member since May 2006
12025 posts
Posted on 8/26/09 at 2:19 pm to
correct...NY Life will push Mainstay funds, Chase will push JP Morgan funds, etc.

Go somewhere they don't sell proprietary funds, i.e, their own stuff.

Ed Jones guy will prob push American Funds, but they are good. Most importantly...find someone you are comfortable with.
Posted by Hammond Tiger Fan
Hammond
Member since Oct 2007
16409 posts
Posted on 8/26/09 at 2:27 pm to
I've been doing alot of research lately on the topic and I do have a question. (Remember that I'm a novice at this) Does it make any sense when first starting out to hold more than one or two mutual funds since in essence they are already diversified?

I was researching on morningstar for the past few weeks and there are plenty of 4 and 5 star low cost mutual funds that seems like the perfom well compared to their peers and the market as a whole. How does one effectively narrow down the choices and chose the right fund?
Posted by Jason9782003
Member since Aug 2007
3724 posts
Posted on 8/26/09 at 2:58 pm to
quote:

I was researching on morningstar for the past few weeks and there are plenty of 4 and 5 star low cost mutual funds that seems like the perfom well compared to their peers and the market as a whole. How does one effectively narrow down the choices and chose the right fund?


There's no secret formula. Don't religiously follow the Morningstar star system. FYI, my 2 star Magellan fund has the highest rate of return out of all of my mutual funds this year +30%
This post was edited on 8/26/09 at 4:34 pm
Posted by Signature
Omnipresent
Member since Sep 2005
6740 posts
Posted on 8/26/09 at 6:53 pm to
I may be misreading your question, but maybe this will help out.

Yes, mutual funds are a pool of diversified companies. But, Owning two or more mutual funds would not be a bad thing. Keep in mind that each individual fund will be weighted differently in particular sectors(industrial, consumer goods ie) Also some funds are national scope and some international.

But yes, If you select two very similar mutual funds that's not a very good job of diversifying at all.
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