Just opened my first Roth IRA, now what?

I'm commenting just for information, I plan on opening one in January once I graduate.

ETA:
I would probably start with total market fund. With only 6k, don’t bother with the 3 fund portfolio until you’re balance is much higher. Probably 4-5x the balance.

Congrats on getting started at your age.

VTSAX

I would suggest a robo managed smart IRA like Schwab where you pick your risk comfort level and then it handles your portfolio for you. No fees for such a service either. No stress for you.

This would also be a lower cost option than investing in a vanguard fund.

quote:

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Good answers here. I echo,
1) No need for three funds yet
2) forget the target date nonsense
3) Go with a total stock market mutual fund

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This. I also agree with an aggressive all stock approach at this age.

From this point forward, the suggestion is to put 15% of your paycheck toward your retirement accounts: 401k, Roth, etc.

Diversify your products so your retirement earnings aren’t 100% reliant on the stock market. I just diversified from stocks, IRA, and Roth (all market based) to selling some of my stocks and buying shares in REITs, transferring a rollover IRA to an annuity, and purchasing a $100k Universal Life policy (which I will contribute at the max to give me an additional $130k to pull income from at retirement).

I learned all of this through a buddy of mine who owns his own investment business. I suggest you find a broker you can trust and build a relationship with who can educate you similarly on all the different products out there that can help you diversify your investments.

Won’t be a popular opinion, but I would not do anything right now. All time high markets and don’t want to get into politics, but there are some important events in the near future. I’d spend some time researching stocks, learning how to use the platform of whoever you set your account up with.

Pay attention to the news and watch how individual stocks react to bad news (while investing in stocks that were oversold because of bad news is a small overall percentage of my investments, it is something I’ve been pretty successful with). I have a few exceptions where I won’t buy regardless (like in the airline industry), but watching Boeing over the last several months has been quiet interesting. I’m not saying it’s a bad buy, but I cut out airlines completely after PanAm. Still pretty enticing at times.

Step 1: Stack cash

Step 2: Check stack

Step 3: If enough, live happily ever after

Step 4: If not, go back to step 1

Congrats on greatly improving your financial status in 30 years....

Only thing I do differently is spread it out over the year vs lump sum.

Where did you open your Roth??