How can I decide between a discount brokerage and a mutual fund account when opening a Roth IRA? (Scottrade, E*Trade, TD Ameritrade, Charles Schwab vs. Fidelity, Vanguard, etc)
Vanguard is a good choice for ETFs, however their other fees can be expensive and the broker itself is limited with platforms, tools, research, etc. I would suggest also taking a look at TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab, both of which have the largest selection of commission free ETFs. Furthermore, their free tools, platforms, research, customer service, etc are exceptional. In the end, alongside keeping expense ratios as low as possible as Anonymous stated, keeping other misc fees low and maximizing the other offerings of the broker itself is important to not overlook.
JPMorgan Chase vs. the big brokerages (like fidelity/merrill lynch/td amtrd): which is better to invest in?
The fees your bank will charge you will most likely be considerably more than one of the internet brokerage firms. If you are looking to buy a target date retirement fund, the first things you should check are the expense ratio and the historic performance. I would pay particular attention to the historic performance. There are innumerable ones available form many mutual fund companies that are no load fund companies. They are also available from load fund companies such as American Funds. If you go through Chase, they will steer you toward one available from a load fund company. That in itself is not terrible provided it has an excellent performance record. Most target date retirement funds though are short on performance history. They have not been around all that long. If you wish to invest your IRA money in individual companies rather than mutual funds, your best bet is an internet brokerage firm. I use TD Ameritrade which charges $10 per trade. They are not the cheapest but they are a whole lot less expensive than Chase will be. There really is no hassle. You can do a direct transfer of funds directly to and from your bank account. Very pain free. It does take a couple of days however. As for target date retirement accounts about the best you can do comparing apples to apples is to look at their one year record and the expense ratios. Most have not been around long enough to have 5 year records. American funds 2035 fund has a one year record of + 23.8% and expense ratio of 0.8%. Fidelity 2035 fund has a one year record of +31.2% and expense ratio of 0.78%. It is a no load fund so the one year record is higher because there was no load. T Rowe Price 2035 fund has a one year record of +39% and expense ratio of 0.79%. It too is a no load fund. Vanguard 2035 fund has a one year record of 28.1% and an expense ratio of 0.18%. It is a no load fund. Its expense ratio is actually higher than that reported by Vanguard for investors with less than $10,000 in the fund. American Century 2035 fund has a one year record of +24.3% and an expense ratio of 0.9%. It is a no load fund. No load funds you buy directly from the fund company and not through a bank.