Fidelity Roth IRA, what to invest in?

Question

I opened a Roth IRA with Fidelity last week and deposited $1500. I signed up for the 2040 Fidelity Freedom Fund. I've been trying to find funds that have low minimum initial investments since I only have $1500, but they are all at least $2500. Currently, my deposit is sitting in the Fidelity Cash Reserves, which I don't think accumulates much, if any, interest. So, do I have to wait until I have $2500 in the account before I can trade mutual funds and stocks????

In response to a few of the answers>>>
Not sure about Fidelity Advisors, whether I have or not.
I have looked through a variety of the funds available and the majority, if not all, have $2500 minimum. Those are 4 and 5 star rated ones though, maybe the lower rated ones have lower initial investments??
When I'm at my portfolio page, I click Buy funds and everything requires $2500 when I try to make a purchase. I guess it is just the funds I am looking at maybe...

I also meant Buy Mutual Funds, not trade. Whoops.
I have no immediate needs obviously since I just started. I am 25 and am looking for long term growth and just want to buy some funds that will be steady, yet not the average run of the mill investment. I can deal with some fluctuation, but overall, want growth.

Answer 1

You probably have to wait 'til you meet the minimum purchase amount.... or try the ETF's ...if you don't know exactly what they are , go to http://www.best-of-etfs.com/family?fam=EXTRADED
What they amount is " index" funds for different sectors, countries, etc.... You could buy say three different ones at about $450. worth (unlike funds, you buy a certain amount of shares at a set price..like a stock)
I trade all three, stocks, funds and ETF's with fidelity...you should have no trouble.
I'd suggest shares in Emerging Mkts, or Mid-cap growth , Real Estate ( U.S. or international).....I just put some of my daughter's IRA in MXE ( Mexican companies) at $25.00 a month ago it's now $ 28.35....
You can buy 10, 15, 20 or however many shares you can afford... then in 9 months or a year or so you might have the " minimum" for a particular fund if that's what you really want...but I think you might find trading more interesting..( but don't get carried away...you DO pay a commission eevery time you trade)
Or... just keep searching the "no transaction fee" funds ..I do think there are lower minimums in there
Good luck
WHOA !...just re-read your question....and you CAN trade stocks if you want...same as above with the ETF's....buy small amounts of a couple of diff companies...for starters go with American companies that you know people aren't going to give up on...you know: necessities: Johnson & Johnson, Kroger, A T& T, Costco
if you feel venturesome find a low price in an oil co. or buy OIH (a fund of " oil service" companies)
Watch it grow and keep adding....

Answer 2

Yea, the whole ballgame is starting young. The key is that you need time for the "Magic of compounding interest" to kick in. You need to get to a good lump sum of money as soon as possible and at a certain point your savings skyrockets, not so much because of your continued additions to your savings but just because of the interest on this growing lump sum of money. For example you don't get a lot of interest on $1784, but when you are 47 and you have $210,000 in a mutual fund and have a good year you are going to make HUGE money that year. Don't do what most do and wait to start saving when they are 32, you cost yourself literally millions of dollars. Mutual funds are by far the best and safest way to save and you can do that through a Roth IRA. A Roth is just a "vehicle" that is available that allows you to save after tax dollars but when you are geezing and take it out, there is no tax at that time. It's a good deal. If the company you work for allows a savings/pension program that allows for pre-tax wages to be invested then that's a good deal also and maybe you can find a way to do both. That reduces your taxable income obviously, but with these savings there will be a tax when you take them out. Stocks can be very risky, that is, individual company stocks like Procter Gamble, GM etc. Most people without strong knowledge of the world of investing are better off with mutual funds which are just conglomerations of individual stocks within in one fund. They are professionally managed and at least in my experience rarely lose money and at worst don't lose anything but break even. Some can do very well, and you can always move to another mutual fund if one isn't performing.

Answer 3

Fidelity has many different fund groups. Fidelity advisers, fidelity select and fidelity investments. assuming you have fidelity advisers, minimum $2500 is for non-qualified investment and $500 for IRAs. You should be able to pick more than one fund.
They have funds based on your personal needs (sorry, I can't help until I know more about you).

Answer 4

Usually funds have lower minimums for retirement accounts

Also if you are in the Fidelity Funds Network, you have access to thousands of mutual funds, not just the Fidelity Funds

If you go to fidelity.com and click on 'research' tab and pick mutual funds and click 'advanced search' you can pick "no transaction fee funds" and pick from many different families other than Fidelity, many of which have much lower minimums especially for retirement funds.

p.s. I wouldn't "TRADE" mutual funds - they need some time to grow, and you get hit with penalties if you buy and sell mutual funds too much, call them or ask them before you get hit with those fees and find out how often you can move in and out without getting hit with penalties. If you want to trade stocks try to get your portfolio up to 10K or so and buy 3-4 stocks, but begin learning now with paper trading, meaning learning/researching and buying selling and writing down what you would buy or sell now and see how you do before using real money.

Answer 5

The secret word of trading success is "organized". You can't be successful without a strategy, a plan and some kind of technological support. I use a software called "autobinary signals" that is helping me a lot. There are plenty of them on the market. I recommend this one because it's very easy to use (you don't have to be an expert or have special skills to make money with it).

Check it out here. It's worth it: http://tradingsignal.toptips.org

Answer 6

An alternative to investing in mutual funds is investing in ETFs (exchange traded funds). ETFs are just like index funds, except that they trade like stocks. Just as with stocks, there are no minimum purchase requirements--you can buy just one share, if you like. And there are no penalties for selling early. Might be just the ticket for you.

Or, there are many mutual funds with only $500 minimum purchase requirements. You just need to find them.

Answer 7

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