I'm 24 years old and I'm trying to get a jump start on this retirement savings thing, so I'm looking at opening a Roth IRA in January. I'm new to this whole thing, but I was looking on BOA's website and they'll apparently waive the $40 annual fee if you have a checking account with them.
Does anyone have any experience with BOA IRA's? Are there any other hidden fees I need to look at? Does anyone know if there is a minimum amount I am required to deposit every month? I'm still in school, but I'm looking at starting out with $50 a month until I graduate.
Thanks for your help.

I would recommend vanguard, fidelity, or T rowe price long before BOA.

What's the advantage of those over BOA?

Those three are the industry leaders for low fees.

I use Vanguard's 2045 Life Cycle Fund (VTIVX). Basically it's a fund of funds, like most life-cycle funds. As we approach 2045 the fund manager adjusts it to reduce risk. Since it's so far now though away it's OK for the manager to take risks, in order to get a higher return. I believe you have to have $3000 to start, and you can setup a plan to contribute $50/month.

There is no fee w/ Vanguard. There is an expense, of course, but it's skimmed off of whatever profit your money makes, and it's so small (about 0.2%) anyway so you never really notice the difference.

As a general rule I stay away from BOA.

I would suggest T. Rowe Price.

There is no minimum amount to open as long as you set up monthly withdrawals from a checking account. The minimum amount for that is $50, which is what you want to save per month anyway.

I think there is a fee of $10 per year for every account under $4000. That's it!

I'm 24 too and I've started on this retirement thing. It's great! I'm using the 2045 Retirement Fund and the Capital Appreciation Fund. I put in $100 per month. I hope to increase that amount next year, but small steps first!

I agree with all , I use Trowe Price 2030 fund, real estate fund, Latin America fund, and Emerging market stock fund. Stay away from BOA.

I opened up a Roth with Vanguard earlier this year. If you elect to have electronic statements, they'll waive the maintenance fee. Also, most of their funds are no-load. This leaves essentially no fees at all besides expense ratios, which are also incredibly low. I just have one fund so far, the Vanguard 500 Index (VFINX) with a whopping 0.18% expense ratio.

I really have no complaints with them at all. I sent an e-mail to their customer service peeps and got a very nice response less than 24 hours later. The website is easy to use, and setting up my account was simple.

I'm planning on opening a Roth through Vanguard this week. Vanguard Life Strategy Growth Fund (VAGGX) is my current choice to start with.

Good luck.

I see we have a lot of vanguard fans here!

I'm a TRowe fan, especially for people just starting out.

An IRA with a bank is like a savings account. You will gain a certain percentage, say 4.5%, just like a savings account (with their FDIC insured accounts). You know pretty much exactly what your return will be. You sacrifice return for peace of mind. Fidelity, Van and Price are mutual fund investments. Price is good because of the low min's. Some people invest with Price until they hit 3k and roll it into Van's funds (because there is a 3k min for some of min's funds).

Bank IRA's are not the most efficient use of retirement money.

The VAGGX mantras' mentions is a well respected/known fund for ROTH investers. ISO.

saladdin

Thanks for the info, guys!

I opened an IRA with BOA...What I like about is that you get to buy stocks,mutual funds,options etc

There are no fees when/if you reach 25K in all your accounts...pretty good if you're into stocks.

Otherwise any of the companies are pretty good if you just want mutual funds.....

So I think I'm gonna go with T. Rowe Price. My question is: what if I have a money issue and can't contribute the full $50 a month for a month or so? Is there just an extra fee, or what happens?

Unless it has changed the $50 monthly minimum must be electronically set up. If you don't have the money in your account when it processes I would check with your bank/Price and see what they define that as. If it is insufficient funds you could get hit with all kinds of fees, kind of like bouncing a check.


Honestly, if you can not find $50 a month for your retirement then you have bigger issues.

One thing you can do: Do you get a refund from the IRS each year of $600 or more? If you do then adjust your witholdings and use that for your monthly deposit. Since you were not getting it in your check anyway then you will never miss it.


saladdin

My issues are not for you to decide. I'm a full time college student so I can only work part time. Forgive me if some months 50 bucks may not be forthcoming. Most kids my age spend money like it's nothing and wouldn't even think of saving for retirement. At least I'm thinking ahead.

You come to a posting board for help concerning your issues and then you say that?
Glad that college education is going so well. Stop being defensive and look for solutions.

Drop the cell phone if you have one. That should be close to $50.

saladdin

It's great that you're wanting to build an IRA, but you also need to have a liquid emergency fund. You don't want to get yourself into a situation where you would need to liquidate the IRA for some other purpose - and without anything else in savings, that could very well happen.

"Pay yourself FIRST"
Have the $50 taken off the top and work with what you have left.

I have an emergency fund, I'm not going to liquidate the IRA unless it's a matter of life and death.