Opening a Vanguard IRA questions

[Marcos8]

i am going to open an Ira and I think I am going to use Vanguard. I originally sat with an Edward Jones rep who was very nice and knowledgeable but after doing some more reading it seems I may benefit over time with smaller fees from Vanguard. Can anyone who has set up an account with them describe the process a little?

i have to make sure they are properly funded by the 18th for tax purposes so I'm trying to find out the timelines of account withdrawal etc...  I am 38 so using their escalating age / risk selector it chose a fund that has a certain distribution of stocks/bonds etc.  is this sufficient for my needs right now? Are their choices of what they put in their funds reliable for a newbie like myself who's looking for a simple entry into retirement funding? Any help would be great. Thanks

[mongstradamus]

I would suggest either one of their lifestrategy funds or target retirement ones. The fees on them are very reasonable and it gives you diversification with both international and domestic bonds and stocks. You can start out with those funds till you feel more comfortable if you want to slice and dice farther down the road.

As far as deadlines on getting the money in to qualify 2015 i am not sure about the time frame on that

[Marcos8]

Thanks for the reply. I know the funds need to be received by them and deposited by the 18th. If everything is done electronically with bank and routing numbers I would think a few days should be sufficient time but not totally sure. I will call their number Monday morning and try to speak to someone. 

[Creditfan1234]

I just opened one up a couple weeks ago after getting fed up with TIAA-CREF. Honeslty, you will be pleasantly suprised at how simple they make it. That is something I was looking for and finally found it. I didn't have any dead lines to meet so I can't help you with that.

[xvassagox]

I have my roth IRA with Vanguard. I just buy the S&P 500 Index fund (VFINX) as the fees are very low, 0.17%. Even Warren Buffet recommends it!

[mongstradamus]

I would use vtsax , if you have more then 10k to invest, vtsmx if you have just 3000-10000 to start off with. It Includes small and mid cap stock which s&p 500 funds do not. Just provides a bit more domestic diversification.

[bada_bing]

If you are worried about missing the April 18 tax filing day to get your

IRA open and funded, you can file an extension on your taxes. That will

also extend the funding deadline on an IRA. Just be aware if you do that,

that you most likely will need an account representative to push the funds

into the account with the proper tax year credited. Online deposits for previous

tax year normally gets shut off after tax filing date.

[Marcos8]

I opened the account I believe on Saturday night and supplied my banking info. While the funds haven't been drafted from my account that I can see, a vanguard rep assured me they have been debited and my balance in the donor account will reveal that shortly. My Vanguard account reflected an available balance  immediately that I used to fund a target retirement fund. It even asked what year the contribution was for 2015 or 2016. What I found interesting is that Vanguard essentially fronted me my contribution to invest while they waited to actually receive the funds.  A very easy process really.