First - a Roth is not an investment - it is a tax-favored vehicle for investment. You can have a Roth through just about any investment company such as Edward Jones, TD, Fidelity, etc. Second, tro is incorrect to say that a Roth will return a steady appreciation. Because the Roth is merely the vehicle for investment, the account's return will be based upon the underlying investment (for example, my Roth's funds are all in stock and bond mutual funds. Thus, I take a bit more risk to attempt to get a better return than had I placed all the Roth finds in a T-Bill.

So, you first step is to determine what your risk profile is - you can do that by taking a simple risk assessment test (usually about 10 to 15 questions). For example, if you are overly worried about returns and the thought of losing money would keep you up at night, you would want to steer your investment onto a more conservative path (maybe more heavily weighted with AAA Corporate Bonds, Public Sector Bonds, a bit in a blue chip mutual fund, etc.).Vice versa if you are more willing to assume risk (maybe an index fund, a tech fund, some international stocks, etc.).

The main thing to know is that reward follows risk - the more risk you take, the more reward you stand to gain - with the knowledge that you also have a higher risk of actually losing money. A quick example - overall the stock market, historically, returns 8% annually. Lower risk corporate AAA bonds might return 5% annually. Tax free muni bonds are probably down around 3% annually.

As others have pointed out, the Roth is simply an investment vehicle. You could put the max you're allowed into a Roth and purchase a mutual fund within the Roth, and then use the rest to purchase a mutual fund straight up. The advantage of the Roth is that it will not be taxable income when you withdraw it, whereas all the earnings in the non-Roth mutual fund will be taxed. The disadvantage to the Roth is that, generally, you would not be able to take that money before retirement without paying a hefty penalty, whereas you could withdraw form the mutual fund, paying capital gains tax..

If you put it in a Roth (good idea, up to the limit you're allowed each year) you still have to decide what to invest it in. You don't want it in a CD with the current super-low interest rates. A Roth can be in something like stocks or mutual funds.

There are tons of other companies. I use Fidelity and am very satisfied.

Edward Jones is one of the best "full service" brokers around. If you're dedicated to paying high fees/commissions... they are your best bet for honesty and mostly good advice.

Buying Mutual Funds (in a ROTH Account) is a great idea. A full service broker will charge $287.50 for a $5,000 investment. A good no-load (no commission) company like Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, Sequoia and hundreds more will have no sales cost. Read some books on basic investing (and Mutual Funds) You will save your self $10,000's or over $100,000 over your lifetime in commissions and loss income on the money spent for "full service" brokers.,

At your age... only look at 100% stock funds. Read, learn and earn. Self education will be your key to success.... or pay the broker............

Why go to Edward Jones to invest in mutual funds when you can buy those shares directly from the mutual fund company?

"Mutual funds or Roth" is an invalid question - you're comparing a type of investment to an IRA account.

Do not invest with E.J. They are just middle men

that take a percentage for poor service. Go directly

to Fidelity, Vanguard or TR Price. Most of their

mutual funds preform well and at a low cost. Also ask

them about the Roth IRA along with your investment.

the max you put into a Roth in a single yr is $5500 at your age - you don;t need Edward Jones - they probably charge a high sales commission - just pick a highly rated general stock fund at TRowe Price or Fidelity that is NO-LOAD (no sales commissions - call them and they will talk you thru it

any time you invest in stocks or mutual funds, you have no assurance of always making a gain, you could also lose and lose big time

a Roth, either one, will be steady(if they are not invested in stocks or mutual funds) probably not as lucrative but at least you won't lose any money

whoa.

you would do well by going to a DISCOUNT broker and buying blue chips. And holding. Maybe sell calls against the stocks to increase your returns. Edward Jones will not do covered calls as far as I was told by them.

Which investments have the best returns with lower risk? I am 39 years old and plan on investing more from my savings when I figure out what is the best investment for me. But not sure where to start. Any idea on how much the fees are with Edward Jones or are there other companies anyone recomends for investing?