Brokerage Accounts

HI thank you personal finance club on answering my past questions.

I now have a question about investing. I am new to investing and currently have a TD Ameritrade account with 3k in it split between Apple, Microsoft , VOO and AMD. I am now reading that you are taxed on the gains of shares which I expected but I am also seeing another tax that could take place. Can someone break down the taxes I may receive with a normal brokerage account. Also I am reading some things about Roth’s. I already have a 401k through my job , would it be smart to open a Roth and invest through that instead of a normal brokerage account?

Thanks for the help , this community is great!

Hey Kyle, nice job investing in Apple, MSFT, VOO & AMD. I believe you are taxed on the dividends (Apple, MSFT & VOO (even if you reinvest back into the stock). The dividends are fairly low since they are mostly growth stocks.

Do you have any debt? Or student loans? Does your co. match?

I have 7k in credit card debt , that I got paid down from 15k, I’ve been throwing a lot of money at it lately. I do have 33k in student loans and my company does match 401k/Roth after being employed for 1 year and up to 5%.

5% match is good. My Co. match is only 3%.

IMO, I would invest in 401k up to Co. match. And then try to tackle or SLAY that CC debt and/or SL.

Would like to see what others think?

Good luck.