Saturday, May 26, 2007

Roth IRA

Trying to set up my Roth IRA continues to be a problem. I want to find a place that will accept just $1,000 as an initial deposit, have no monthly fees, provide the ability to trade options, and still have a decent web and as a plus, mobile web interface.

This remains elusive because places with nicer interfaces, such as Interactive Brokers, require a $4,000 initial deposit, while places such as TD Waterhouse accept $500, but require monthly deposits or the like.

I am still on my search, but since I promised to have my Roth IRA setup by the end of this month, I am still trying to meet that goal.

7 comments:

Richard said...

Sharebuilder requires no min, and has no monthly fees, for the Roth IRA. You may have to sign up for the standard pricing program ($12) for one month (the month the payment is due I think) to cover the annual IRA fee.

Mercedes Lopez said...

One richard's comment having to setup a subscription is the fee in my opinion but I think TradeKing is probably your best bet I know they don't have an annual or monthly fee and no account minimums although they require $2000 for margin enabled accounts.

I opened my Roth there at first but didn't realize that they want you to setup a monthly or quarterly auto debit. I emailed them on it so they didn't close my account so I still can fund it but going to do it at one go or just stick with my T. Rowe Roth.

Good luck on the search; I was searching for a place with an even lower initial investment point with no fees as well and I ruled out Sharebuilder since you still get the trading fees just at a lower price after doing more than a couple. And selling a security is costlier than buying one as well; with TradeKing their price in and out is the same hence you pay lower than Sharebuilder in the end.

PF101 said...

Try to avoid Sharebuilder if you can. They seem cheap at first, but they're really not once you look more closely.

I wrote an post about it a couple months ago:

http://www.personalfinance101.org/Articles/2007/03/why-i-hate-sharebuilder.html

Anonymous said...

Seriously? Do you really have an MBA? I doubt it.

Finance Guy said...

To anonymous, while I love to address by-passer doubts, I am certainly not going to procure my degree up for everyone who questions it. Either accept that I have one, or that I just enjoy playing a hoax on the internet.

Anonymous said...

Oh OK. Just odd that someone with an "MBA in Finance" would solicit advice from random strangers on the internet about where to open an IRA. Eh.

Finance Guy said...

To Anonymous: I am not sure what your view of the education a MBA provides, but certainly I do not recall being handed a comprehensive list of brokerages where a Roth IRA could be opened, and a breakdown of advantages/disadvantages taught.

MBA's are designed to provide the framework to manage in an organization, and the specialization allows for a more in-depth understanding of a topic.

While I can break out the tax advantages of a Roth IRA or talk to you about how stocks or bonds work, I am certainly not prepped with information such as "Company X is the best mortgage lender" or "Company Y provides the most cost-efficient pricing structures for trading"