Question about stocks

[Joyous_5]

I have a rather silly question--is there a way to have a ROTH IRA account and NOT pay a yearly fee for it? I have mine through Edward Jones (I'm self-employed) and am charged like $40/year. There's not that much in it so it seems silly to me that I'm throwing out that much per year. Are all of these type of accounts like this or could I go through another lender/finance person/bank which wouldn't charge as much?

[DuraMater]

I have a roth with Scottrade. I am only charged when I complete a transaction (like buy a stock, etf, etc. $7 for that). Otherwise, it costs me nothing to have things sit there.

[fidgiegirl]

Mine is with TIAA-CREF, and I am not aware of any fee.

[Spartana]

You can also have a Roth (or traditional) IRA held as a CD rather than in stocks or Mutual funds. Less interest of couse but there are no fees (usually) and they are insured by the FDIC up to $250K

[Mangano's Gold]

I don't believe that I an getting charged on my TDAmeritrade account.

[jp1]

Mine is with eTrade and, like DuraMater, there's only fees when I buy or sell something.

[Rogar]

I don't think I've paid fees for my Roth at Fidelity or Vanguard. They have been decent places to have investments.

[Joyous_5]

Thanks, all. I am going to check into this further. It seems a shame for me to be wasting all this money on fees when I have such a small IRA as it is. Thank you for the help!

[bae]

Schwab doesn't seem to charge a fee:

http://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/investing/accounts_products/accounts/ira/roth_ira

[martha]

You can also have a Roth (or traditional) IRA held as a CD rather than in stocks or Mutual funds. Less interest of couse but there are no fees (usually) and they are insured by the FDIC up to $250K

I like this option because there's 0% risk regardless of what the market does. Surely interest will come back up eventually. . .

[Spartana]

I like this option because there's 0% risk regardless of what the market does. Surely interest will come back up eventually. . .

I think the bank CDs are a good option for someone who is at or nearing retirement age and will be dependant on that money - or who just can't handle (financially or emotionally) the ups and downs of the stock market. You know how much you have, you know it's protected, and you know what kind of withdrawal rate you can do. I do think that, for younger people or those who aren't dependent on that money, then the stock market is probably the way to go. i personally can't handle the risks so put all my IRAs in CDs in my credit union. I am still getting a fairly high interest rate because I locked them in 5 years ago but most are re adjusting now at a MUCH lower rate. But still, I like knowing they are there and will still remain and grow (slowly) until I am old enough to begin taking funds from them. I sleep at night ;-)!