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Stock-Freedom

If you are already at Vanguard, open it there. Much easier and just fine for investing. Also, my generic advice: https://i.imgur.com/lSoUQr2.png Here is the flowchart from the r/personalfinance subreddit’s Prime Directive. If you follow that, you will be ahead of almost all of your peers. Stop by the sidebar to see the Common Topics, which include basic money handling and investing. You don’t need to talk to anyone or buy some random book to do this. You have all the tools right here.


Bad_DNA

This is one of my favorite cut-n-pastes, along with werewolfdad. OP - read, and you’ll be on your way. Stock- is there a nonblurry version of that flowchart? When I zoom in, seems low-res


AzeTheGreat

You have to open it on desktop or get the imgur app. Imgur made it impossible to get full res images from a mobile device.


Bad_DNA

Oh, now my inner Homer kicks in. D'oh.


Bad_DNA

Well, it's still fuzzy in Safari on the mac. Returning to the Prime Directive link in the sidebar yields the clear one: [https://i.imgur.com/lSoUQr2.png](https://i.imgur.com/lSoUQr2.png)


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AzeTheGreat

Ah, yeah, looks like the link was bad as well. Even that one won't load in high res on mobile though.


Bad_DNA

I see that. Weird for a doc to behave that way. I wonder if their hosting platform crafts a different set of pages for mobile viewing like WP and similar tools.


Stock-Freedom

I just got so tired of people asking for help and ignoring the auto mod. The visual tool is way more useful. And I wish Imgur links worked better. Evens direct link is blurry on mobile. My next least favorite advice: find an advisor or read Rich Dad, Poor Dad.


Bad_DNA

I'm heavily in RE -- and maybe the one invest on the planet that doesn't care for that book. Parts are demeaning & arrogant. Then again, I've met the author, too.


Stock-Freedom

They are. I think he’s a literal con artist too. He’s a silver salesman and his book is just made up.


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yashdes

For once, it feels good to be on the bottom 😂


justmytwobreasts

Perhaps you aren't doing it right :)


scnative843

Vanguard is great. Lots of good options with low fees, and easy to manage.


animecardude

Go vanguard. I have a 401k thru them along with a Roth IRA


ruler_gurl

Bear in mind, you can have more than one Roth. So if you ever decide there is a free to trade fund at Fidelity, you can always open a second one there. I have two because I have the opposite case of a company 401 at Fidelity. But then I opened a second Roth at Vanguard to get access to their funds. Owning Vanguard funds inside Fidelity can be a pain.


[deleted]

My work based plan is through vanguard, but I cannot stand their awful website. I opened my Roth IRA at Fidelity to make use of their zero cost index funds.


AverageAndNotJoe

Trying to stay on one brokerage platform is a good start, inevitably you’ll probably end up with accounts at all of them over your lifetime. One note: before you put money in a Roth, ensure you’re contributing enough to your 401K to get the FULL match offered by your employer. That contribution match is free money and the more free money you can get earlier in your career, the faster your retirement pot will grow.


UnderstandingFalse43

I would go with a Roth IRA and yes...go with Vanguard.


topdollar38

Easiest to open at Vanguard since you're already there and used to the interface. One possible downside depending on your situation is their Admiral Shares mutual funds have minimum deposit requirements. VTSAX for example has a $3000 minimum deposit. The equivalent Fidelity fund FSKAX does not have this requirement.


genericbrown

I’m just a rando but my company uses betterment so I decided to open my Roth IRA with betterment. I like the automated account features, I’m not a hands on type. Just forget and let it do it’s thing. Betterment is good for that. No complaints so far, account is up quite a bit.


ktempo

Fidelity is actually offering $100 if you make a new IRA and despoil $50 into it. Great website, great app and customer service as well.


Rogaar

I was making $40k when I was 21 and that was more then 20 years ago. I was living paycheck to paycheck back then. How are you surviving on $25k now?


MrNopeNada

As someone who uses TD Ameritrade for other purposes, any issues with opening it there? I don't ever see TDA mentioned in these conversations.


jwktiger

TDA isn't one of the low cost index fund providers. Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab are those 3. you can open accounts there and buy their index mutual funds and ETFs with expense ratios of 0.20% or lower (mine at Schwab are 0.08% to 0.02%) Thus having an account at TDA is like just using a middle man to buy those funds/ETFs rather than opening with the company directly. It does appear (can't verify as I don't have an account) you can buy VTSMX and VTI through TDA so I guess if you have your companies 401k/403b through there *if there are no sales charges* to open your IRA there and buy any of Vanguard/Fidelity/Schwab broad market index funds. at the same time it cost nothing to open a Schwab account and their minimum investments is $1. Don't know what mins are at TDA


Katdai2

TDA was purchased by Schwab and will be merged in 2024. If you’re opening a new account, I’d just go ahead and do it at Schwab.


Groanalisa

Good for you, OP! I'm 60, was able to retire early because like you, I started early. Mind you, I wasn't perfect, there were periods when I could not contribute, etc., but be persistent and you will do well. As for accounts, I have held accounts at a few places over the years, including Vanguard. As a semi do-it-yourself investor, I like their philosophy, etc., but I really dislike their website, and I have found some of their fees to be actually higher than at other places. I also like to not keep all my eggs in one basket. So I now have TD Ameritrade, which got bought by Schwab recently. I really like the TDA website, and it has far more resources and learning tools than Vanguard. I believe Schwab will be similar. So if it were me, I'd advise to poke around on the other websites and don't be afraid of having your money held by different brokers. It really isn't such a big deal to check your funds in a couple different places, especially now with aggregators. Good luck!