Hey Everyone,

I am 23 years old (recent grad) and have been working for about 6 months... I wanted to build up a little bit of liquidity before I started to invest.

I was wondering what are your opnions on Vanguard, Fidelity and T Rowe when it comes to ROTH IRAs' - (Target Retirement Funds) - in terms of the of the funds itself, fees/costs, growth and risk?

Along with that if I wanted to add other investments to the ROTH which company in your opinion offers the best lateral movement to invest in other asset classes seperate from the taget fund, again... fees/cost, etc.

I would greatly apprecite any suggestions, I want to get started on the right foot. Thanks!

How much are you looking to invest? Vanguard has minimum amounts for most of its funds, but has great expense ratios. For the target retirement funds it is $3000.

Speaking in general terms, target retirement funds are an easy way to save for retirement and I don't think you would go too far wrong with any of the companies you mention. At your age the most important thing is to sock away as much as you can.

I have 3000 to invest and will try maxing to 4000 before 4/15/08...

thanks for the book suggestions!

I use Fidelity, but T Rowe Price is the best for life cycle funds, since they have the highest percentage of your investment in stocks.

I myself opened a ROTH IRA from TrowePrice. Minimum amount to purchase a fund is $1000. This gave me an advantage in that I can allocate and create a bigger portfolio with the max contribution while lowering my risk. But then again...it's only an IRA. I just like to see my money grow.

Vanguard and Fidelity are both great places to start as well. The decision is yours.

eilros said:My wife and I both use T. Rowe Price for our Roth IRA. The customer service is excellent and we've been happy with our target Retirement Fund.

Why do you prefer T Rowe? Expense ratio is 0.19% for Vanguard while it is 0.73% for T Rowe. Is there an advantage of T Rowe I am missing?

turkey79 said:Why do you prefer T Rowe? Expense ratio is 0.19% for Vanguard while it is 0.73% for T Rowe. Is there an advantage of T Rowe I am missing?Maybe because expense ratio of one fund is not the only factor in choosing a brokerage?

Thanks everyone!

lefty331 said:I've had accounts at Fidelity and T Rowe Price. I recently transfered all my IRA and brokerage assets to Fidelity, since T Rowe Price is charging $30 per year per account. Since I had 3 accounts with them (2 IRAs plus a regular brokerage acct) that was $90 per year, which bugged me. I asked them twice to waive the fees, twice they said no, so I transfered the accounts to Fidelity, which has cheaper stock trades, and no-fee IRAs with generally lower expense ratios anyway. I couldn't believe TRPrice wouldn't waive the fees, since I had over 100K between the 3 accounts. Oh well.

By the way, Fidelity's "MySmart" checking account totally rocks.

Lefty331

Right on! I'm in the same boat as you. 2 IRAs, 1 regular brokerage, and the MySmart checking. I'm digging everything in one place.

Add 1 more vote for Fidelity. No account fees, great mutual funds, and Mysmart Cash, which is essentially a checking account that pays better interest than most savings accounts.

CoffeeEater said:I have a Fidelity Roth IRA. Only thing I don't like is the $10k minimum for the S&P Index. Granted, the fees are lower than Vanguards, but Vanguard's min is $3k.

I ran into the same problem. My solution: Fidelity's Four-In-One index fund (FFNOX). 55% S&P 500, 15% Wilshire 4500, 15% International stocks, 15% Bonds. Minimum investment: $2,500 for IRA.