Roth IRA/mutual funds

[Apocalypse]

Anyone have any advice on which to get? Also, how much interest do you get? Because I am getting over 5% in my checking account so if it isn't that much higher, there isn't much of a point.

[Kidlicious]

Well the IRA is for retirement. There's tax benefits involved, so it's got to be better than your savings account. That is unless you think you might need the money before you retire. If you do then don't put it in an IRA, you will get penalized.

[Kidlicious]

Oh, and go with the regular IRA, not the Roth.

[Apocalypse]

Well, I was wondering about specific funds to look into. I was already planning on keeping at least 6 months salary in my savings account (a bit over 5% interest) which I can take out any time I want. I am fine with going into rather aggressive funds because of this.

[Apocalypse]

I've always heard Roth is better

[Kinjiru]

A Roth is almost always better.

Roth IRAs are funded with after-tax dollars and (as long as you meet the withdrawl guidelines) all distributions are tax-free (federally tax free anyway). As an added plus, you can withdraw your contributions at any point without penalty - should you find yourself in a cash crunch.

Many sites have calculators that you can use for free to determine if you should go regular or Roth, if you want to plug in your specific circumstances.

[One_more_turn]

Roth IRA is always better because ALL your gains are tax free. Let's say you have annual gains at 10% for 30 years, that will be lots of money at the end. For traditional IRA, you pay income taxes on the all the money you take out. For Roth, you pay nothing.

As for mutual fund selections, I would buy LOW COST(low expense ratios, no load) index funds that cover various asset classes, market capitalizations, and geographical locations. For example, you can allocate your money like that:
20% US domestic large cap stocks
20% US mid and small cap stocks
20% Developed foreign stocks
10% Emerging market stocks
10% Natural resources
10% Real Estate
10% Gold

[Kuciwalker]

For Roth you pay taxes on the money you put in, so it doesn't really matter vs. other plans. Pay now or pay later. OTOH, because of that Congress could **** over your Roth completely.

Roth plans are really just a dumb accounting trick of Congress to pretend they have more money now (the lost tax revenue later is outside of their budget forcast, so according to their accounting they have more money to spend on stuff).

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by One_more_turn
Roth IRA is always better because ALL your gains are tax free. Let's say you have annual gains at 10% for 30 years, that will be lots of money at the end. For traditional IRA, you pay income taxes on the all the money you take out. For Roth, you pay nothing.

It depends on how your expected lifetime income affects your tax bracket. I don't think the site calculators consider that. They might though.

If you expect to have more income when you retire than when you worked the Roth will cost less tax. If you expect to have less income when you retire, like most people, then the traditional IRA is better.

[Apocalypse]

Blah, I am not asking which I should get. I am more looking for any aggressive mutual fund suggestions.

[One_more_turn]

You will most likely be burnt if you chase those "aggressive" funds.

But if you insist, you can try the following:
1. Proshares Ultra funds - http://www.proshares.com/funds.
2. Sector funds: Fidelity Select Natural Resources, Oil Service, and Gold are hot in recent years.
3. Country specific funds: china, india, korea, russia, latin america, africa, etc..

Some of the "experts" think Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand are still cheap and may have some catch-up to do.

[Apocalypse]

Well, the thing is I can afford to get burnt, as I have 6 months saved up and I am only 23

[pchang]

Roth benefits

depend upon the US government not changing the rules in the future to screw you.

I am inclined to avoid taxes now and not bank on US government tax promises for the future. On the other hand, I don't qualify for Roths anyway.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Apocalypse
Well, the thing is I can afford to get burnt, as I have 6 months saved up and I am only 23

And you're in the military.