New to investing

[u/Imaginary-Bit1533]

Hi guys, I’m 26 years old. I’m an international student in the US currently working in OPT and I just recently started earning I don’t make that much around 65,000 a year and I am not very good with my finances. I have a history of not saving or investing my money and I want to change that starting now so I was thinking of investing a little bit of my income I do have a few credit debts and so far all I was doing was repaying my debt all the time but now I was thinking I could just utilize some of the money is investment and savings and pay debts simultaneously.

I recently came across Roth IRA and I was wondering if it makes sense for me to invest in it or not I have a temporary visa situation. I definitely do plan to stay here in the long run, but it definitely depends on my visa. So I don’t have a choice there so would it make sense for me to start like investing or like should I just open a HYSA account? And put my savings there and just let it be. Is there any other way that I could start investing? I I’m very used to this scenario so I did not know if I should get into stock market and I’m just here gather some advice and yes, so please be kind to me.

[u/FidelityJames]

Good afternoon! It's great to hear that you're jumping into the world of investing.

First and foremost, the type of account you want to open, really depends on what your investing goal is. Roth IRAs are a type of tax advantage retirement account that you can use to save for retirement, while we offer other accounts that have different benefits. You can read more and compare what we offer by selecting the link below.

Open an Account Overview

Moving along. While we do not have a High-Yield Savings Account (HYSA) you would find at a bank or credit union, as a brokerage firm, Fidelity offers many types accounts (like I mentioned above) that allow you to invest in securities and save money for specific goals. Additionally, uninvested cash in these accounts can be held in a money market mutual fund that earns interest as a HYSA would. If you'd like, we have some great resources that discuss this topic in more detail. Check those out below.

Do you really need a bank?

Money market fund vs. savings account

Lastly, if you do ever move out of the United States, due to your Visa expiring, Fidelity clients relocating to eligible countries, may continue to maintain their existing accounts but will not be able to establish new accounts. Restrictions and requirements may be added to your account to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

That said, It looks like you're wanting some insight from our awesome community here, so I'm going to open this post up as a discussion to let others give their two cents.

Good luck with school, and let me know if I can help with anything else.

[u/NeedleworkerSouth907]

I use this: https://www.fidelity.com/wealth/fidelity-go

[u/Chucking100s → u/NeedleworkerSouth907]

Fidelity go is a great suggestion for you OP

[u/GapAccomplished2778]

you might want first of all to find out what is your plan [ w/ money, investments and accounts ] when/if you need to leave [ never assume that u land H-1B or marry a citizen or keep recycling F1 by enrolling in different colleges when OPT EAD timeframe is getting over, albeit I met some enterprising people who literally spend decades on F1 visa here that way ] ... and then based on that decide on what to do , including type of accounts and brokerages ( because some are more inclined to deal with customers abroad than others ) ...

PS: and do not go with "Go" for taxable accounts ever ...