Should I start a Roth IRA in my Credit Union as opposed to somewhere e

[Guest berg67]

My Credit union has a Roth IRA that returns 4.12%(I don't know if this is guaranteed I don't even know if this is good!) It seems that I've seen other places, or read about them, that show higher returns 9-11%, is this the case? My dilemma is that I will not be putting the minimum $2000(I would be contributing but I don't know how much) in every year for a few years, the reason being I'm going into Pharmacy school for the next four years and it will be tough enough to make ends meet with out complicating things. The reason that I would like to go with my credit union is that they offer on-line banking which would allow me to transfer money in there with a few clicks of my mouse, which would make things easier. Or is all of this pointless, I just know that 'The power of Compounding' would do me well over the next four years but would waiting until I could make the $2000 a year contribution be better? Also is it possible to transfer an IRA somewhere after I get out of school? BTW I'm 22 years old and will be 26 when i'm done. Thank you for any help you can give me.

[John G]

1. Yes, you can find better rates if you are just looking for an IOU type investment. That is pretty cautious investing. Normally I would suggest a mutual fund that is broadly based. However, you may have a problem meeting some of the minimal investment levels. If you elect the monthly deposit system, you can often start small... ask a few mutual fund families about the monthly option. It is ussually set up to work automatically.

2. Should you? Well, maybe not. If you have very little "reserves" established, then your first objective is to create a cash reserve fund.

3. Any IRA can be moved from one custodian to another. Direct transfer is preferable. You can also switch investments.

[Guest berg67]

Thank you very much, i never thought about exploring the monthly payments option for mutual funds, that is something i'm going to look into. Its true I don't have the funds right now that allow for so minimum deposits. Thanks!