IRA Help

Question

ok lets start off that i dont have much knowledge with the market
but i did start my IRA (25 years old right now) with Ameritrade
anyways.
i placed the max of 4k into IRA (not Roth) due to some restrictions i did not qualify for ROTH

i didnt open my Ameritrade untill few days ago and whn i did i realized that the money is sitting in
a money market not invested anywhere.
my impression was that i put the money in (TDAmeritrade) and they lock it in for me and i get around 5-10% return
but that just tells u how much i know.
so i asked a buddy of mine what i should do and he told m to put it in ETF and dont even look at it.
so i did.. he told me to jump on VWO @86.02 i bought 34 shares and i have about 1k left.
and here come my questions.
where should i put this 1K into....
whats the best place to put in my IRA money into (next year , year after--mutual funds? ETF's?
put it in the same ones i already have?
i was not educated 2 much about IRA's (figured its safe return) but i guess since i am picking stocks, etfs myself they can go down as well and i can lose it all right?
- with my limited knowledge i do know that DOW is breaking records and its very odd to me because it seems our country is not going the right way, the war is going out of control, and economy is not looking so pretty, housing down, --so why the hell is DOW breaking records?
are we in for a big surprise soon with everything going down?

i know i am all over with my story but i do want some inteligent help..wallstreet help me out.
thanks

LuckyLuke · Answer

ok lets start off that i dont have much knowledge with the market
but i did start my IRA (25 years old right now) with Ameritrade
anyways.
i placed the max of 4k into IRA (not Roth) due to some restrictions i did not qualify for ROTH

i didnt open my Ameritrade untill few days ago and whn i did i realized that the money is sitting in
a money market not invested anywhere.
my impression was that i put the money in (TDAmeritrade) and they lock it in for me and i get around 5-10% return
but that just tells u how much i know.
so i asked a buddy of mine what i should do and he told m to put it in ETF and dont even look at it.
so i did.. he told me to jump on VWO @86.02 i bought 34 shares and i have about 1k left.
and here come my questions.
where should i put this 1K into....
whats the best place to put in my IRA money into (next year , year after--mutual funds? ETF's?
put it in the same ones i already have?
i was not educated 2 much about IRA's (figured its safe return) but i guess since i am picking stocks, etfs myself they can go down as well and i can lose it all right?
- with my limited knowledge i do know that DOW is breaking records and its very odd to me because it seems our country is not going the right way, the war is going out of control, and economy is not looking so pretty, housing down, --so why the hell is DOW breaking records?
are we in for a big surprise soon with everything going down?

i know i am all over with my story but i do want some inteligent help..wallstreet help me out.
thanks

depeche2 · Answer

Somebody can correct me, but unless you are covered by an employer-sponsored plan, I don&#x27;t see why you would qualify for a Traditional IRA but not a Roth IRA.

KOAJ · Answer

our country is not going the right way, the war is going out of control, and economy is not looking so pretty, housing down, --so why the hell is DOW breaking records?

there are surprisingly very few places to invest:

-bonds (yield is below 5% on the long bond)
-cash (interest rate - rate of inflation = very little)
-real estate (yeah right...)
-commodities (a lot of them have already had their run)

which leaves:

-stocks (earnings are strong...there are tons of mergers...and basically, there's nowhere else to invest right now)

are we in for a big surprise soon with everything going down? i have no idea....

since you are investing in your IRA, your best bet is to set up some sort of auto-deduct and invest your yearly contribution/12 each month

put some in value, some in growth and spread it across different mkt caps (large, mid, small...and a little bit of intl)

over the long haul, value will always outperform growth

wallstreetcappers · Answer

D2,&#xD;&#xA;&#xD;&#xA;His issue is likely an income requirement that he exceeded. I had the same issue last year..even without a 401k available I could only do a Traditional IRA and NOT a Roth..&#xD;&#xA;&#xD;&#xA;Kinda sucked but thats how it goes.&#xD;&#xA;&#xD;&#xA;The comment about Ameritrade and making a 10% return well thats just crazy.

LuckyLuke · Answer

wallstreet-u are right about the issuecan u comment on a ETF that i bought and something else i some options (ETFS) that i should look at with the other 1kKOAJ- my comments regarding the market and me investing in it is in general.i am planning to put money in my regular account and get some action going.. (not only IRA)thanks for your comments

krafcikrr · Answer

lucky luke, dont move to quickly here. you are missing alot of the basics that you will want to know before you self-manage. I think ETFs are more efficient than mutual funds for several reasons in a taxable account. Typically lower expenses, and their tax status means you dont get hit with capital gains on a yearly basis. Instead, you are able to defer taxes until you sell the ETF. &#xD;&#xA; &#xD;&#xA;In an IRA, you will not need to worry about tax efficiency. If you were rolling a 401K into an IRA, then I would recommend ETFs because you want to buy them in larger chunks so that the commissions dont negate the benefit of lower fees. In your case, you are going to be contributing small amounts on an annual or monthly basis. I would set up systematic purchases into 2 different mutual funds. Use a broad-based domestic fund and a diversified international fund (not necessarily emerging markets).&#xD;&#xA; &#xD;&#xA;I prefer ETFs to mutual funds whenever possible, but in your situation you will be better off using a mutual fund while you build in small increments.

IRA Help

Hot Forum Topics