Looking for some direction. I am 51 years old and just recently opened a Roth IRA at TD Ameritrade. I have $875 in their right now and am putting $125 per week into it. I have an emergency fund in a savings account at a local bank. I have paid off all debt except the house $110k. My employer doesn't offer a 401k. I make around $56k per year.

The IRA is I guess with no direction invested as $300 in Proctor and Gamble stock (had two free trades, 1 left), $350 in Vanguard Intermediate Bond Fund ETF, and $225 in their money market fund.

Looking to be put on the right path as to investing my IRA and after I max it out, which I will as I will be adding funds other than the weekly investments what should I invest in outside my IRA. I guess I just need to know given my age what type of asset allocation and what funds would be a good mix for me. I am more of a conservative type of investor.

I should be able to invest around $10-12K each year as a total portfolio. I am getting such a late start in funding for retirement and I do not want to make any big mistakes. Any suggestions would be helpful and appreciated.

Dale
dalekeener@yahoo.com

Dale, I dont think given your goals that you should be investing in a single stock. I dont know if that was your intent based on your post but diversity is the key to any markets.

Given that this is a retirement account and assuming a time horizon of 20 years meaning retirement at 71 versus 67. I would offer that the best investment would be a very low cost growth mutual fund. Thats my advice.

Ameritrade has 100 free ETFs so there is a lot to choose from with no commission.

At this stage I wouldn't stress on what specific investments you invest in. Any half decent total stock market fund or target date fund will be just fine. Instead, focus on that saving habit, even automating it. In a year when you've got that $10k, then we can talk about what to invest it in.

Good advice. Mutual funds are a good place to start.

Also, we did the whole automation of savings. Monthly on the 28th (to account for February) money is automatically transffered to our various savings accounts.