Hi WFG – It depends on what you want the account to do. Betterment is a straight robo-advisor. Fidelity offers the Fidelity Go robo advisor, but you can also do self-directed investing too. If DIY investing doesn’t interest you, Betterment might be better. But if you want to do any investing yourself, Fidelity may be the best choice. Both are good, you just have to decide which will work best for you.

Hi CJ – The only way he can put all the money into the Roth IRA is if he does either a rollover from another Roth, or he does a Roth IRA conversion from non-Roth retirement accounts. If all the $50k is in taxable accounts, he’ll have to do $5,500 per year.

I wouldn’t recommend target date funds for him though. They have high fees and aren’t the most efficient investment, especially for someone who’s 30.

Thank you for your help,

Hi Lance – IRAs, even Roths, require earned income. Disability isn’t earned so it won’t be eligible. Sorry!

Hi Tyrone – Generally speaking that’s true. The tax benefits apply to US tax law, not Australia, so there may be no point anyway.

So an Australian who lives and works solely in Australia can’t open an IRA account?

Hi JM – You can if you have US earned income and a tax ID number.