Choosing an IRA

[CSUrMed]

I'm looking to open my first traditional IRA like a big boy and am having trouble wrapping my head around the options and variables. Has anyone done this legwork recently and feel like sharing their experience?
I'm looking at Vanguard, Fidelity, USAA (like any good kid from SA), and Schwab (I was gifted an account with them already, so... Might as well).

[jfoxcpacfp]

No need to be overwhelmed - you can always change to a different provider later if you decide you don't like your current custodian. Just start wherever you feel comfortable and like the platform - or draw a name out of a hat. They all offer basically identical funds.

[VagabondMD]

^^ Agree with above. If you are already familiar with the Schwab platform, I would recommend going with them. (I have no account at Schwab or other business relationship/conflict.) I use Fidelity because that is where both my wife's and my workplace retirement accounts are held.

[DMFA]

CSUrMed wrote:

I’m looking to open my first traditional IRA like a big boy and am having trouble wrapping my head around the options and variables. Has anyone done this legwork recently and feel like sharing their experience?
I’m looking at Vanguard, Fidelity, USAA (like any good kid from SA), and Schwab (I was gifted an account with them already, so… Might as well).

Click to expand...

Why do you need/want a traditional?  In this particular population, it's either not worth taking the deduction (too low of a bracket) or you can't deduct traditional contributions because you have an employer account.  A lot of us only hold traditional accounts to contribute to once a year before converting it to Roth (i.e. backdoor Roth).  Then again, your circumstances might suit a pure trad IRA; it's just less common among this group.

USAA was kinda meh.  None of their funds are particularly great to hold (performance isn't worth the fees), and you can just add non-USAA accounts for tracking purposes.

Schwab's got decent funds; I don't know their software but I like keeping stuff under one roof.  Vanguard is probably most popular.  Fido is pretty solid imo (that's what I use after transferring assets from USAA); the common index funds have almost identical fees and composition as Vanguard does.