AboutAaron Hall Expertise I can answer questions regarding asset allocation, investment selection, investment managers, hedge funds, investment expenses, most common tax shelters, retirement accounts.
Experience I have worked with MetLife Financial Services, Ameriprise Financial, and Merrill Lynch. I also manage millions in client assets, though I am not actively searching for more clients, and I do not accept commisions for financial products.
Organizations Financial Management Association
Education/Credentials I am in the process of attaining my Ph.D. in Finance with a support area of econometrics, and have a bachelors degree in Finance with a concentration in Real Estate from Florida State University.
Education
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Ph.D. in Finance, pending
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
B.S. in Real Estate and Political Science, Spring 2002
Related Industry Experience
Merrill Lynch, Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch, with $3,000,000 in assets on the books, $2,000,000 of which was fee based, where clients followed specific portfolio recommendations based on optimized portfolios tailored to risk tolerance and goals, 2006-2007
Independent, Financial Planner, continuing to work with select clients, 2005-2006
MetLife, Financial Services Representative, Selling Life Insurance and Annuities, 2003
Guernsey and Associates, Boutique Financial Planning Firm Internship, Selling Life Insurance and Fee-based Financial Plans, Fall 2002
Honors and Awards
College of Business Ph.D. Fellowship/Assistantship
College Teaching Fellowship Award
Full Undergraduate Academic Scholarship at FSU
National Merit Scholar Award
Question I want to open a Roth IRA to save for retirement. I want to know: 1) Where should I open the Roth IRA account? I don't have $ to go to a financial planner and I only have a small amount of money to get it started (about $100). I called Wells Fargo bank and they only had an interest rate of 1.1%. Is that all I can expect?
Answer Nikki,
You can open a Roth at Scottrade with no account fees if you will accept electronic delivery of statements (via email and the internet). I believe they will let you start with as little as $100 if you set up automatic bank drafts into it (perhaps 25 or 50 a month).
If you buy the no-transaction/no-load funds, you won't pay any sales charges. ARFVX is one such fund (at Scottrade), as well as being a target date (2050) fund, meaning that it becomes more conservative as time goes by, as if you were planning on retiring in 2050. You will need to accumulate $250 in your account before you can invest in this fund.
Because you have so little to start with, your options are pretty limited. I'd recommend calling Vanguard and Fidelity as well, to see if they could help you, but I'm pretty certain Scottrade fits the bill for you.
I recommend that you continue to learn about investing, because I don't recommend these target date funds as a long-term solution, because they are too one-size-fits-all.
