I want to set up my Roth IRA to invest in individual stocks. How do I do this? Thanks....?

Question

Any tips on stocks to hold for the longterm. I have 23 more years before I can use my IRA.

Answer 1

I believe most of the online brokerages, like Ameritrade, Schwab, eTrade, allow you to open a Roth IRA. You probably don't even have to go into their offices and you can open the account over the internet. Another option is to try your current bank and I know the larger banks, like Citi, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, etc, have Roth IRAs. I'm positive if you are already a customer of the larger banks you can open the account online as well.

You should never take stock tips from anyone, especially anyone on Yahoo! Answers. This includes people on TV, at cocktail parties, and coworkers. If you want to buy individual stocks you need to do your own research or if you're too lazy you should hire a financial consultant.

But if you want a good allocation for your funds, this is what I would do:
30% Symbol: VTI
30% Symbol: VEU
30% Symbol: AGG (or your favorite bond index)
10% in your favorite money market fund. Just be positive that this money market fund is in US treasuries. These are scary times with the "credit crunch" and you don't want any part of some high yielding nonsense that could decline dramatically in value.
You can tweak these percentages based no your risk tolerance (i.e. more risky is less in bonds and more in stocks).

Answer 2

You need a self-directed IRA from a brokerage house. All of the discount brokerages offer them, as does Fidelity.

My personal feeling is that the US will slowly cede its financial power to China, India and Europe. The best and easiest way to play that is with International Mutual Funds. Not only are they less expensive to trade than individual stocks, but even the smallest portfolio is diversified. As the dollar looses value against foreign currency, the investor that holds those foreign securities gains when they're converted back into dollars.

Answer 3

for a newbe like yourself;
Charles Schwab
Fidelity Brokerage
Both are good brokerages that can handle the questions of a newbe. Be very leery of low cost brokers. They're set up for the more experienced trader.

I'd suggest you can do better research than asking total strangers for stock suggestions. There is no way for you to know their qualifications or motives. Stay clear.

Don't chase extreamly high performing stocks, ETF's or Mutual Funds. Have an asset allocation plan and follow it.

Answer 4

Many choices available.

You can setup an account with a brokerage firm. This firm will have forms that you can send to the existing custodian of your money and have it transferred to the new firm.

This could be a local full service house, that does research and gives you personal advice.

This could be an online broker. There are at least 4 or 5 major ones.

The right choice depends on your needs.

As for what to buy, you should take advice from someone with a license to give financial advice.

Answer 5

Just open an account with Tradeking.com and they will walk you through the process either via phone or instant messaging. Here's my Roth IRA: Fidelity Latin America(FLATX), Fidelity China (FHKCX), Fidelity South East Asia (FSEAX), Fidelity Canada(FICDX), and VMW(VMWare just spun off from EMC because can't buy options yet. You can also look at an emerging markets fund, precious metals/mining fund, oil/oil services fund.... I would watch MadMoney and FastMoney on CNBC to keep abreast of market trends, and Morningstar.com screeners to see which funds are performing the best.

Answer 6

Setup a brokerage account at Schwab or Fidelity.

Answer 7

You need to set it up with a brokerage account.