How and where do I start a retirement account.?

I am 21 , going to school, and living with my parents. I plan to put $200 to start a retirement account and then add roughly $83 a month to make it $1,000 a year for the next few years till I get a better paying job. My question is can I open an online retirement account? Right now my bank is bank of america. I also wanted to know if I started a 401k with my current employer how does that transfer to future employers. I do NOT plan on staying at this job much longer. Until I learn more about stocks and other investment tools I just want to focus on retirement accounts.

Public Comments

1. You can start an IRA (Independent Retirement Account) with any on-line brokerage, my recommendation (based on nothing except I like them!) would be BuyAndHold.com, whose IRA stuff is here: https://www.buyandhold.com/Buy?request=reg.newReg Don't get too big a head, but you are WAAAY smarter than almost every other 21-year-old in the country to be thinking about this now. The market has historically returned 10-12% a year on average, long-term, and will continue to do so unless the world "goes out of business", LOL. If you invest $200 now, and add $83 a month, by the time you retire at, say, 61, you will have over $1.1 million, even if you never increase the amount you are saving above $83 a month! Behold the miracle of compound interest! (If you wait until 70 to retire, and can achieve 13%, you'll have about $13M!) Since you are so young, you probably want to opt for a Roth IRA (which you would fund with money you already paid income taxes on), especially if an employer allows you to participate a pre-tax 401(k) plan. Well done on being so smart! Have a great life!
2. Roth IRA, you pay 4,000 a year before taxes, and it increases tax free. A 25 y/o who gives 4,000 year, by the time they are 65 they will have a retirement fund of 1.1 million dollars.
3. Check vanguard.com.A friend of mine got a Roth IRA and she is very happy.They are a discounted broker.I am personally planning on doing the same.
4. Do some research on-line...Vanguard, Fidelity, E-trade may have minimum initial deposit requirements...but you CAN get started somewhere like that. The important thing is...go with a broker...not a bank IRA... in the long run, " invested" money will grow soooo much faster than bank rates. With a small deposit, your first investment may be in an ETF... pick a " sector" or a country and just let it ride ( plus your additions) you'll do fine. If you don't know much about investing don't be put off...it is nowhere near as complicated as it appears at the outset. Yahoo/ finance or moneycentral/msn have " beginner investing" info or try: http://beginnersinvest.com/ One other place you may want to see is :http://www.finishrich.com/free_resources/lattecalculator.php That site is for a little " encouragement"...good luck.
5. Contribute to your 401k first, atleast up to the amount your employer will match. You can most likely roll it over to your next employers retirement plan. After you contribute the maximum to your 401k you can start an IRA, and Individual Retirement Arrangement.
6. go to ppl pre-paid legal services trust me we we will be going global in September 29, 2007 so go for that I'm in it and I'm only 18 age and Ive made over 15,000 last month just by investing only 45 dollars if u don't believe me look on yahoo business and type in pre-paid legal. so look in to that. my home number is 260-625-5195 call me 4 more info!!!