What is the best IRA company? I have been told Vanguard is good but i have a friend that getting Allianz?

Question

Hi, What is the best IRA company? I have been told Vanguard is good but i have a friend that getting Allianz IRA and wants me to get it as well? Can anyone with knowlegde in IRA's help me with this or anyone that have used these companies. Is there any better companies that i should look into before purchasing? Thank You

Answer 1

Vanguard running away. I am not a big fan of funds, but Vanguard really is the only way to go.

Answer 2

You should not think of it as "purchasing an IRA." You are investing your money with a company. You also get to tell the company what to invest YOUR money in. Can anyone tell you what is the best bank? Can anyone tell you what is the best stock to buy? No. The correct answer is, "It depends on a lot of different factors that are different for each person."

Do you know what a mutual fund is? Most of these companies offer a variety of mutual funds that you can invest in. A mutual fund is a huge group of people who put their money into a huge pot. The financial company then hires people who use that money to buy a bunch of stock in lots of different companies. The can also use that money to buy a bunch of other kinds of investments, like bonds. Over the course of each year, these professional money managers buy and sell these stocks and bonds all day long, every day, hoping to buy the right thing at the right time.

I recommend you open your IRA at a local bank and invest in a simple money market fund. Then, do some research into basic investing to the point where you start to really inderstand what your options are and understand what you are doing. Then, finally, when you're ready, you should be able to order the bank to send your IRA funds directly to whatever new investment company you choose. This step is easy and without penalty. You can change your mind and pick another investment company as often as you want.

Be careful, though. These companies often charge you a fee for investing in their fund AND for taking your money out. You will learn about that as you do your research.

Good luck. The first step for anyone is saving enough money to start down this road. Well done!

Answer 3

Vanguard offers low cost mutual fund options for IRA investments.  Allianz is an insurance company that offers IRA annuities, which I am very familiar with.

I do not like Variable Annuities - you can lose your investment in them so I would recommend you don't invest in that.  

Allianz has an Indexed Annuity product that will give you a 15% bonus on your money for simply opening up the account.  They will also bonus you for the next 2 years the same amount towards your deposits.  It, will protect your investment from going down, but let you make pretty good returns when the stock market is doing well.  Their model could, in a perfect world, return 30%, but you can't lose your money - very important right now.

If you don't get understandable advice from the other people you're talking to, feel free to contact me and I will try to help you.