Yup, just opened up my very own Brokerage Roth IRA with USAA today! And, as usual, it went swimmingly. They answered all my questions, took the time to explain everything to me, and even opened it up 1-2-3 over the phone for me. Total call time? 14 mins. 37 secs. (hotness!)

They even helped me to xfer my target mutual funds from my regular Roth into this new Roth, allowing me to keep everything into one account! I’m telling you, I really should work for that place – I’ve now technically got 13 accounts opened with them! haha….although I’ll drop the other Roth here shortly to keep things nice and clean.

So, why the big move now? To purchase those stocks I was talkin’ about the other day! Yup, I figured the only way I’ll be able to play the game correctly is to consider these new stocks as “retirement” funds. That is, I pick them up and then keep them for a while instead of buying and selling all over the place. And for ME, that means having them live in my Roth IRA.

Up until the other day, it never dawned on me that I could purchase individual stocks and keep them in my Roth account. I was just so used to thinking about mutual funds when it came to retirement accounts (cuz that’s what the media and every other person out there talks about). But, with a Roth IRA, You can invest in anything you’d like! Mutual Funds, individual stocks, cds, money markets, you name it. The Roth is just your vehicle to get you there, sorta like a “catch all” account for investing.

The thing was, however, was that the original Roth I initially set up was only made for mutual funds, so I had to change it over into a “Brokerage Roth” in order to have trading capabilities as well now. From this one account, I can now choose whatever my heart desires :) All under the same imposed Roth Limits of course.

But what’s even MORE awesome is that I don’t have to worry about the taxes from it all!!! I don’t know about you, but the idea of dealing with taxes in itself is enough to steer me away from investing sometimes :( But since the money flowing into this account is already taxed by Mr. Obama & crew, the need to hit ’em up again goes away! When it’s time to cash out 30 years from now, all deposits & gains will be 100% tax-free :)

Needless to say I am one excited little puppy over here. I’ve got the game plan all set up, the mechanism now in place, and now all I need are the right stocks! haha…that’s all.

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PS: In case you’re wondering, and I know a few of you are, the cost for each trade placed with this Brokerage Roth @ USAA is $11.95 – a lot higher than Sharebuilder, E*Trade, and some others. Since I’ll only be placing a few trades each year though, it’s not that big of a deal for me. I’d much rather have all my accounts in one place and easily accessed :) Oh, and I pay no monthly fees.
PPS: Here’s a pimp list of the “best brokerages” out there if you’re interested in checking some out.