I've been looking at starting up an IRA for a few years now and figure this would probably be as good a time as any to do it. Have any of you done it? Any suggestions on who to get it through? Planning on talking to my bank and seeing what they can do for me, but would almost rather go through an investment counselor.

1) build bomb

2) plant it in London mailbox

3) If no one important gets injured, claim you did it for a free Ireland.
If someone important gets injured, blame it on a "splinter group"

Thre are a couple of roth IRA's that you can do

One is a guaranteed rate, usually set up by a bank. My credit union has one but its only a 5.5 guarenteed return. If you want more risk and higher return se then next one.

The second is one that allows you to invest into the market, say fidelity. Thats where my IRA is. You can pick any stock or Mutual you want there but its subject to the stock market, so thats risk. Fidelity, ETrade, ML, they all have one. Fidelity is the easiest to set up, and work with.

1) build bomb

2) plant it in London mailbox

3) If no one important gets injured, claim you did it for a free Ireland.
If someone important gets injured, blame it on a "splinter group"

Now this, my friends, is clever.....Manntis get a forum cookie for teh funnay.

Set up a Roth IRA based on an index fund; something like the S&P500.

The stock market has an average return of 12%; some years higher, some lower.

That means, on average, your Roth IRA will grow 12% every year. That means every 6 years your money doubles, and it won't be taxed when you pull it all out.

The cap on a Roth IRA is $4k/year. You do the math. $4k/year at 12% turns to $8K in 6 years, $16k in another 6 years, $32k in another 6 years.

If you put in $4k every year, you will have a nice nest egg by the time you retire.