The account is open. That was the easy half.
Millions of beginners clear the first hurdle — they open the Roth IRA, enroll in the 401(k), fund the brokerage account — and then freeze, because nobody said the money sits in cash until you choose what it holds. These doors finish the job: the mechanics, the categories, the clicks. In plain words, and never a fund picked for you.
The account is open, the money is in — and it is sitting exactly where it landed: in cash. Nothing about opening the acc…
Open the door →
Same freeze as the Roth, different tax end. The account is a bucket; the money inside is still cash until you choose wha…
Open the door →
Enrollment started the paycheck deduction — but three things decide whether it works: how much you put in, whether you a…
Open the door →
A brokerage account has no tax wrapper and no yearly limit, which is exactly why it sits last in the published order. Th…
Open the door →
Where your cash is parked at Fidelity, what the trade screen is asking, and how the automatic investment switch works.
The walkthrough →
Where your cash is parked at Schwab, what the trade screen is asking, and how the automatic investment switch works.
The walkthrough →
Where your cash is parked at Vanguard, what the trade screen is asking, and how the automatic investment switch works.
The walkthrough →
The one mechanism behind most beginner freezes: deposits park in cash until you choose. It is not broken. It is unfinished.
The explainer →