The easiest and best way to go is a mutual fund
along with the Roth IRA.
The fund manager does all the work for a small fee
and the Roth IRA is tax free at withdrawal time.
An IRA is not an investment vehicle, it's a garage where you park your investment vehicles. I prefer mutual funds. Most financial advisers say you should not own individual stocks and bonds until your portfolio reaches a million dollars, and for some its even higher. Mutual funds are baskets of individual stocks, bonds, even commodities, and are best for protecting against wild market swings. ETFs are the mutual fund concept, but they are traded daily on an exchange. You can buy one in the morning and sell it for more (or less) the same afternoon and realize an immediate profit or less. Traditional mutual funds settle at the end of the day. No matter when you bought during the day, you pay the closing price from the day before, and if you sell the same day, you get the closing price of that day, which you don't know yet. There is no active up and down to sit in front of your computer, hoping to time exactly right, which is what the day-traders that swear by ETFs do. I'm not saying ETFs are bad, but there is not as nearly a wide selection of funds as with mutual funds. The ETF sort of defeats the purpose of the long-term investing the mutual fund is designed for by encouraging short-term trading.
It depends on your knowledge
if you have a Finance background then stocks are the way to go hands down no alternative
But most have no clue what they're doing so this isn't the best option
I'm not being sarcastic here but bonds are for ******* and stocks Always outperform bonds on a long term scale.
ETFs and Mutual Funds are for those need help and have very little knowledge
IRAs are okay but only if you're saving for retirement and when using an IRA your investment choices can be limited
Stocks: Only Blue chips if you have no knowledge. But if you do then choose whatever you like
Bonds: Never invest in bonds you will miss out on a lot of potential money
ETFs Mutual Fund: Good for those with little knowledge
IRA: Great for those looking to only use money when they retire but investment options can be limited
For retirement - 401k and/or an IRA.
For anything else - brokerage account
I buy the occasional stock. But I have mostly mutual funds in my 401, IRA, and brokerage account.
You need an advisor. It;s worth the time.
Stocks, bonds, IRAs, ETFs, mutual funds, etc and why? I like IRAs due to their tax advantages.
