I use Fidelity for my 401K, Ameritrade for my stocks, Wells Fargo for my checking accounts, INGDirect for my savings account, Chase for my credit cards and HELOC, and WaMu for my mortgage. I'm looking to consolidate a bit, so I don't have to deal with so many different log-ins and interfaces. I also need to open a SEP IRA before the tax deadline. If I want to at least consolidate my 401K, SEP IRA, and Stock Trading with one company, what company should I go with? Schwab? Ameritrade? Fidelity? WellsFargo? ETrade? A different company? My must-haves are:\n1. No/Low Fees\n2. Good Customer Service\n3. Intuitive Online Interface\n4. Fast and easy set up (e.g. account set up, rollover, initial deposit, etc.)\n\nThanks for your help!!!
211391
Vanguard will give you the lowest fees.\n\nSchwab will probably give you the best service.
21001
What type of investment is going to held in the IRA? Stocks, mutual funds, cds?\n\nThis not a pyramid scam. From what I hear they are a reputable company. \nYou should get an IRA for yourself, it whether it is with them or another company. The most important thing is the investments being held in IRA. You want to look at past performance of the investment as well as the consistency of the investment. Look for one with consistently good returns not necessarily the highest return last year.
4719
I would open an account with sharebuilder, there are very cheap and you do not have to buy tons of stocks. They have good investment tools also. In my opinion, the most important thing is to be consistant and make sure you are putting something away every week or month. It becomes a good habit and the money starts to pile up.
953
Whether you're hit with the AMT or not, the real answer is that you should exercise the shares when you are ready to sell them, there's no other reason for you to exercise shares unless you're leaving the company.  \n\nThere are tax and AMT issues, but without understanding your full income picture there's no real way to answer that question.\n\nI know of several people that exercised stock, held it and then placed margin buys against the value of the shares, when their stock tanked the margins were called and at least one of these individuals had to sell their house to pay off the margin call.  I was in your position a few years ago, i exercised and sold immediately all shares that i exercised.  [if for no other reason to 'diversify my portfolio']
357686
It's not where you buy your ROTH IRA from as it's what you purchase.  Having said this..... I'd be very wary of banks and insurance companies for any "investment services". As a group they have a terrible reputation.\n\nA full service broker will give you advise on where to "invest" your money. A lot of these people are good at what they do (there are however, a significant minority that can be dangerous to your financial health). Investing with these companies will cost you some $$$(on average $575.00 for every $10,000 you put in a Mutual Fund).\n\nYou'll be paying these people to help you find the right "asset allocation" and investment.\n\nAnother way would be to spend some time to learn the BASICs of investing and "asset allocation".  If you follow the rules of "asset allocation", don't buy from "tips", do your research and have at least 50% of your funds in EFT's (like S&P500, Mid-Cap 400 etc) you can do very well. Most important (next to assset allocation) is "low fees".\n\nYou can do better than most brokers & save 10's of thousands of dollars (over a lifetime) by doing this on your own.  Schwab & Fidelity Brokerage are two good choices for the beginer.\n\nWhat ever you do.... Don't chase "performance" or the "hot" trend. We've made some nice money in metals this year. But I would never put more than 5% of our "asset allocation" in the "hot investment" of the week, month or year". You have a diversified portfolio to do that.\n\nGood luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
538738
you'll need a brokerage,,,,fidelity is my preference..then do some homework. why are you investing, how much can you invest, and how much risk can you tolerate......educate yourself before making decisions, or you'll end up paying for services or products you may not want or need
662533
Do you have a rainy-day fund?  If not, I'd focus on saving money into a rainy-day fund in case you lose your job or your car needs work.\n\nWould the company match more if you put more into your 401-k?  If so, try to at least get all the company match.  Otherwise, consider a Roth IRA since you probably don't pay any income taxes anyway with two kids and their associated $1000 tax credit.  There's no point in trying to reduce taxes in a tax-deferred account if you don't pay any to begin with.
293424
Put $5,000 into an international mutual fund and the other $3,000 into a domestic S&P 500 mutual fund.  Put the remaining $2,000 into a small company fund.\n\nI recommend e-trade mutual funds as they have the lowest management fees (under 1%).\n\n\nInternational - ETSPX\nDomestic - ETINX\nSmall-cap - ETRUX\n\nI recommend mutual funds because you don't want to be spending all your time researching and keeping up with the market.  Let the profesionals do it for you.
351507
Hello,\n\nI completely agree with wanting to invest your money.  Afterall, what's the point of making money if you can't make more money with your money (got that?)?  Anyway, I've tried all different investments from stocks and bonds to IRA's, 401k's, and real estate.  I'm really a big fan of diversification.\n\nHowever, the only investment I've really been happy with so far is real estate.  Over the past 5 years, I've bought 3 different properties (all have tenants, and I'm making more than the mortgage payments on 2 properties).  \n\nThe 3rd property I got  was using Carleton Sheets no money down methodology (he's a GURU in real estate, and yes, his methods do work!).  You can actually buy a property for absolutely nothing down (NO MONEY FROM YOUR OWN POCKET).  I payed over $500 for his course 3 years ago, and I just saw it online for $9.95!!!!  This is a steal at $9.95 (I'm actually going to buy it for my friends for Christmas).  It was featured on TV, so I got the website from there.\n\nBefore you invest in anything, I highly suggest the Carleton sheets course.  http://www.alllsite.info/real-estate.php
414674
It makes sense to have them in one spot so that you can easily manage all of the funds and choose an appropriate asset allocation for your needs.  If your current employer has a 401k that you are eligible for, it usually makes sense to roll it over to your current employer's plan since you cannot roll funds out of the plan that you are currently in until you terminate employment or retire.  \n\nIf you are not eligible for the 401k at your current employer, I reccomend opening an IRA at Vanguard.  I work for a direct competitor of Vanguard, but I still believe they have better solutions for individuals (I know, I should go work for them).   \n\nIf you are not a saavy investor, make it easy on yourself by investing in an "Asset Allocation Fund".  The Vanguard funds are called "Target Retirement 20xx".  You choose the year that is closest to the one in which you will retire.  The fund manager wraps many funds into a single Target Retirement investment that is suitable for someone who is retiring in that particular year.  Lets say you intend on retiring in 2035.  Choose the Target Retirement 2035 fund.  As we get closer to 2035, the investment gets gradually more conservative.  Many fund houses have similar types of investments.  These are hands down the best investments for people who don't want to waste their time picking out individual funds that suit their needs.  \n\nGood Luck
196897
I've been studing the market game for about a year now, i didn't knew anything a year ago, I havent invested anything yet, i've just been practicing in stock simulators like stocktrak.com for about 2 months now, im happy i've made almost a 7% in my simulations (im happy with that since i am a rookie), I think I need to do a lot more reading, studing and practicing before I invest a single dollar for real. I think now I understand the markets much better.\n\nSince I am in a similar position as you are, just 1 year ahead studing :) , I would strongly recommend you to start by studing Profr. Peter Navarro's material. First I studied his audio course "Big picture investing", and read his books "when is raining in Brazil buy Starbucks", "when the markets move will you be ready?" and now i'm reading his most recent book "the well timed strategy", for me it was great to start with the audio course, since he explains the basics to understand the market, and it comes with a very didactic printed course guide. Profr. Navarro has been a great teacher for me, I don't think there are other books as good as this for a beginer, and belive me, i've done my research and been reading a lot!! after the audio course i was able to understand and take more "juice" from his books and other books that I have read, I recommend you to do the same thing.\n\nRegarding the Can Slim system teached by IBD's Bill O'Neal, I think he is a real master, his investing approach is great and relatively easy to follow if you use the investing tools on investors bussiness daily and do your research homework every day, actually, I just took the Can Slim Level I Seminar some weeks ago, and I am already subscribed for the level II seminar to be held at the end of this month, BUT, if i hadn't studied Profr. Navarro's material before, I am shure I would understanded much less from the can slim seminar, so I recomend you to start with Profr. Peter Navarro's material, its great material and has been a lot of help for me.\n\nYou can find Profr. Navarro's audio courses and books at barnes and noble, either in the book store or online, is not an expensive material, i would have pay 10 times its price, its worth much more.\n\nAnd, once you start to study, the learning curve never ends!! start with Prof. Navarro, before you buy any material much more expensive and not worth its price, belive me i've done it :(..im shure you will thank me.\n\nGood luck!!!
315935
If you want to EARN A 10-15% RETURN WITH A SECURED INVESTMENT, listen up. I am working with this company called ARTSTAR MANAGEMENT. They offer a 10-15% RETURN on your money. They can work with any money including IRA’s, and 401k’s, OR CD'S. They pay interest directly to you monthly and the investment is SECURED!!!! But they do have a minimum investment. Give this place a call it’s a great way to park money for safety and get a good return. Here is the address www.webuyhouses2.net Fill out a form and they will send you a no-obligation information package and you can compare their investment to the mutual funds and such. HAPPY INFORMED INVESTING!!!
155826
He told you that most people don't have the time or brains?  OMG, that would make me wonder right there.  Load funds give your broker a commission up front plus the 12bII's.  No load come in many different forms, check the fine print for the fees.  If you are new and want to learn more about stocks, then may I suggest looking into ETFs?  They are like mutual funds except the fees are lower and they are more transparent and trade all day long, and after hours.  You can find out a lot about stocks, investing on the Internet.  I like to use msn's money site, it taught me a lot.  Good luck and always ask for a prospective before you buy a mutual fund from anyone.\n\nOh, and since this is a Yahoo site, I thought that I would mention that Yahoo has a finance site.  I bounce back and forth between the two because they both have features that the other one doesn't.  Like I can keep track of my investments on Yahoo messenger with Yahoo.
244273
I say go with Scottrade.  I have been taking a look at the different online brokers and have recently decided to go with Scottrade myself.  They have lower fees and require a lower balance to open an account ($500).  Also they have many offices around the country that are there if you want to meet with someone in person.\n\nTake a look at this link, it compares the online services of different brokers:\n\nhttp://www.scottrade.com/frame_brokers.asp
75920
try fidelity.com or vanguard.com or schwab.com .. also cheapest is tradeking.com\n\nwells fargo is a good bank, investment fees on the funds are high however.
305535
Not that I'm convinced that any tools help an investor trade, but I don't see much at this site that I like. But then I'm not a trader, I'm an investor. I won't invest in a single stock anymore as I learned my lesson the hard way, only once and it wasn't a big deal but that's all it took. Then I went to Morningstar, enrolled in their education workshop, I think they call it Personal Learning or something like that. Took every course they had to offer and I still read almost daily newlestters from them. In addition when it comes to mutual funds I simply like low cost, no-load, long tenure management, top notch Total Returns, and because of that I like reading msn moneycentral and look for Jim Jubak and others. But even here be cautious as even the best of the best have bad year returns once in awhile, link #1:\n\nThen watch MOFQX, I'm not saying to buy it but it is the most interesting mutual fund I've ever heard of. It's a relatively new fund and it is quirky but what an idea. And it is still climbing. Who knows. Read, read, read and then sleep on it. If you want the really easy way out, go with TRowe Price or Vanguard's Life Strategy style funds. They match your risk with your age and they are the cheapest arounf. Other than that if you will promise yourself to keep up with the markets, ETF's are great but only if you drop all you are going to at once as trades dimish your returns because of trading fees. Good luck.
634258
When just starting out and you are sure you want to invest in individual companies, sharebuilder.com is a legite place to invest. Others are ETrade, Fidelity, TDAmeritrade, ScottTrade.\n\n I want to warn you that with a small amount of capital and investing in individual stocks, you will be subject to certain risks particular to the individual securities that you buy, because you do not have enough capital to become fully diversified. That is just a warning.  I did it. You can too. Your other option is to buy mutual funds.  That way you will be less subject to individual risk.  Of course if you buy one stock and that stock doubles in price in a matter of months, that is a good feeling.  If on the other hand if you buy one stock and that stock looses half of its value in a matter of weeks that is not such a good feeling.  It has happened to me often. \n\nI have accounts with both Fidelity and TDAmeritrade. TD is less expensive but Fidelity has better research facilities. To me the research is worth the few extra dollars. I do not know what research Sharebuilder supplies but I think I have heard that they have some.  Maybe someone will respond and provide that information.