I don’t need to be told everything I’ve done wrong. I already know. Seeing advice online about being in my “prime earning years” just makes me want to give up.
I used to have solid jobs in my late 20s making $60–70k, but I was fired for being pregnant. I sued and won, but the payout wasn’t invested—it was used just to survive. Since then, things haven’t stabilized. I’m now making $15 an hour managing a store.
We bought a home in 2019, right before losing jobs again during COVID. We managed to keep it, and it’s our only real asset.
At this point, I just want to know where to open a Roth IRA that won’t eat me alive with fees and can grow aggressively enough to actually make a difference over time.
First, let’s take a breath and separate two things that are getting tangled together here: shame and strategy.
You’ve been through multiple major financial shocks: job loss, discrimination, and a pandemic. And you’re still standing, still housed, and still asking how to move forward. That matters more than whatever some generic article says about “prime earning years.” Those articles assume a smooth, uninterrupted life. That’s not how most people actually live.
Now, on the practical side, you’re right to focus on fees and simplicity. You want a platform that doesn’t nickel and dime you and lets your money actually work.
Open a Roth IRA with Fidelity, Vanguard, or Charles Schwab. All three are solid, low cost, and widely used for a reason.
Inside the Roth IRA, the most realistic “aggressive” approach for where you are isn’t chasing hot stocks. It’s putting your money into a low cost, stock heavy index fund and letting it compound over time.
Think:
An S&P 500 index fund
Or a total stock market fund
At your stage, “aggressive” mostly means being heavily invested in stocks and staying consistent, not trying to outsmart the market.
Now, here’s the part that’s less fun but more important: the amount you invest will matter more than the exact fund you pick.
At $15 an hour, the goal isn’t to max out immediately. The goal is to create a system you can actually sustain. Even small, regular contributions count. And because it’s a Roth IRA, that growth is tax free later, which is a big deal.
Also, don’t ignore what you’ve already done right: you kept your home through one of the most economically unstable periods in recent history. That’s not small. That’s a foundation.
Your financial life right now is not about catching up to some invisible benchmark. It’s about stabilizing, simplifying, and then slowly building.
You are not behind. You’re rebuilding. And rebuilding is a very different mindset.