why would you buy Vanguard through ScottTrade? They charge you a commission, while Vanguard does not.

Also, you are probably not there yet, but if you have over $50,000 in multiple accounts with Vanguard, then you do not pay any annual service fees regardless of the balances in each individual account.

larrymoencurly said:Fidelity is trying to push all new customers into general brokerage accounts, and if you open an account online with them that's not in some kind of IRA, this is the only choice you're given, and some of their employees wrongly insisted that brokerage accounts were required even for IRAs. This setup requires having not only a mutual fund but also a Fidelity cash account, and any mutual fund trades are required to be be made with that cash account, requiring two steps to move money between the mutual fund and your bank account. You can still open up a regular mutual fund-only account with them if you do it by phone, fax, or mail.There are some advantages to a brokerage account (at least for taxable accounts), even if you only want to buy mutual funds. It allows you to track basis by specific shares, rather than average only, which means you can minimize taxable gains. (I don't know about Fidelity, but most mutual fund accounts do not do this.) Also, margin borrowing against fund positions becomes possible.

At Vanguard, in contrast, it's not possible to hold Vanguard mutual funds in a brokerage account.

I'd suggest you get it at your local library.

You might also want to check out
-Straight Talk on Investing: What You Need to Know by Jack Brennan, Marta McCave
-Index Mutual Funds: Profiting from an Investment Revolution by W. Scott Simon
-Wealth of Experience: Real Investors on What Works and What Doesn't by Andrew Clarke (Author), Jack Brennan
-The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You'll Ever Need: Index Mutual Funds and Beyond - The Way Smart Money Invests Today
by Larry E. Swedroe
-Saving Money by Norman Deitz
-7 Money Mantras for a Richer Life : How to Live Well with the Money You Have by MICHELLE SINGLETARY

any further input?

newb investor, looking to start IRA as well. Vanguard and Fidelity do look good.

Opening IRA the easy way -- great for beginners

Another great way to learn is to read the discussions at morningstar.com. There are forums for each large broker's clients, as well as general forums.

You don't pay taxes on the investments inside a traditional IRA until you remove funds from the IRA.

If your goal is to buy into a good (individual) stock, or roll your IRA/401(k) into a good investment stock, try Bank of New York's low, low fee on General Electric stock. When I direct rollover my 401(k), it's all going into GE Stock. This is one of the last companies you could expect to earn less than 8-10% return each year.

If you don't have enough to put in to waive the fees, you can always go with Scottrade and then transfer it out later. Scottrade is free to close and transfer out. Nobody mentioned going with Scottrade and buying ETFs.

I don't see why you can't do this... can you have multiple Roth accounts at the same time? Keep one at Scottrade and one at Vanguard or Fidelity. As long as you don't go over the contribution limit in total you should be ok. (If someone knows why or if you can't do this, please post a response).

I don't see why you can't do this... can you have multiple Roth accounts at the same time? Keep one at Scottrade and one at Vanguard or Fidelity. As long as you don't go over the contribution limit in total you should be ok. (If someone knows why or if you can't do this, please post a response).

Yes, you can do this