where is the best place to open a new IRA?

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blackdiamond

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So I'm gonna be a brand new intern soon with income. I know that we can open an IRA in a bank, credit union, brokerage account, etc. Is there a difference in how much fees you pay or how much the account will accumulate depending on where you open it up? I have Bank of America for everything so far (checking, savings, credit cards, mortgage) so I just want to open an IRA through them for convenience and safety, but I was just wondering if other places give you a "deal" in terms of fees and how much the account will accumulate?

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So I'm gonna be a brand new intern soon with income. I know that we can open an IRA in a bank, credit union, brokerage account, etc. Is there a difference in how much fees you pay or how much the account will accumulate depending on where you open it up? I have Bank of America for everything so far (checking, savings, credit cards, mortgage) so I just want to open an IRA through them for convenience and safety, but I was just wondering if other places give you a "deal" in terms of fees and how much the account will accumulate?

Is BoA charging you an account maintenance fee for your IRA? I keep most of my finances at one place for convenience knowing I could probably make a little bit more if I spread it out. The other question I'd ask BoA is what about transaction fees? What about the type of funds they have access to and their expense ratios/front load/back load...etc.
 
So I'm gonna be a brand new intern soon with income. I know that we can open an IRA in a bank, credit union, brokerage account, etc. Is there a difference in how much fees you pay or how much the account will accumulate depending on where you open it up? I have Bank of America for everything so far (checking, savings, credit cards, mortgage) so I just want to open an IRA through them for convenience and safety, but I was just wondering if other places give you a "deal" in terms of fees and how much the account will accumulate?

Vanguard.com
 
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i don't think bofa is charging a maintenance fee for their ira, because they said they have a mortgage, which typically qualifies one for a "relationship account." i would say that if no mortgage and had $25k in balances go with wells fargo - you get 100 free trades a year, including no load mutual funds such as fidelity and vanguard. bank of america is a san francisco sellout anyway...
 
The big 3 are Fidelity, Vanguard, and T. Rowe Price. Especially if you're into mutual funds.

I'll be opening a [sweet domestic index] Vanguard Roth shortly. :banana:

What does BOA offer for investments? Many banks, imho, jumped on the IRA bandwagon just to increase profits...depends on returns and fees I would imagine.
 
i don't think bofa is charging a maintenance fee for their ira, because they said they have a mortgage, which typically qualifies one for a "relationship account." i would say that if no mortgage and had $25k in balances go with wells fargo - you get 100 free trades a year, including no load mutual funds such as fidelity and vanguard. bank of america is a san francisco sellout anyway...

If you pay zero fees and get fidelity and vanguard funds with no additional fees than no reason I can think of to not go with BofA at this time. You can always move it elsewhere later.
 
Something else to ponder:

Vanguard: Admiral status when you hit $100k which results in less expense ratio.Why fees make a difference?

Fidelity: Same deal as Vanguard when you hit $100k. Currently has some sweet expense ratios on a few index funds (10 bp):
Spartan 500 Index, Spartan U.S. Equity Index, Spartan Total Market Index, Spartan Extended Market Index and Spartan International Index funds.

Moreover, with Exchange traded funds (EFTs) you get access to a lot more low cost alternatives at both houses.
 
Go with Vanguard. $10/year, thats it...no loads, no transaction fees. Plus, the Target Retirement funds do all the work for you(diversification, stock/bond ratio). I believe that once you hit 5,000 or 50,000 in your account, the fee is dropped.
 
Go with Vanguard. $10/year, thats it...no loads, no transaction fees. Plus, the Target Retirement funds do all the work for you(diversification, stock/bond ratio). I believe that once you hit 5,000 or 50,000 in your account, the fee is dropped.

Actually, if you sign up for e-delivery of statements and such through your email instead of regular mail, they'll waive the a/c maintenance fee. This is a recent change to their policy.
 
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