I haven’t contributed to any retirement plans for myself yet - no 401k, nothing. Been saving a LOT as I’ve been living with my parents post-college. I’m looking to throw in max annual contribution to a Roth IRA ($6k) with either Vanguard or Fidelity ASAP (before EOY). My main concern is that I think I might want a personal broker because I also want to begin investing more carefully and with some help. Older/wiser folks who have experience with either or both, what should I do? Is Vanguard or Fidelity the better option given that I want a broker? Or should I not bother at all with a broker? Comments are much appreciated! TC: $93k all in ($78k salary, $15k bonus) not including stock options (I do not plan to exercise) YOE: 3 Age: 24
Fidelity is better in case you decide to contribute to 401k down the line. You can manage all your accounts in same place. If you want to passively invest in something relatively safe with decent growth, you can invest in VOO/VTI and can pair it with SCHD for dividends.
I have both, and would vote Fidelity off the strength of the interface. Vanguards isn’t great, they’re doing an update now and it’s still funky. If you’re young stick with index funds, the only guarantee a broker can give is that you’ll be paying them more than you need to
Stick with index funds and don’t fuck around with individual investments. Either platform is fine. Choose the one you like more.
Either is fine
Fidelity