<prompt> Human: Hey there, Im 25 years old, Ive been maxing out my 5,500 contribution to my Roth IRA the last few years, mostly with Vanguard target retirement. Ive dabbled in buying stocks before and I want to buy a few stocks with my 5,500 contribution for 2016.Is it a good or a bad idea to buy individual stocks in my IRA? If I want to sell the stocks at some point, can I just sell the stocks and thereafter buy a Vanguard fund, without technically withdrawing the money from my IRA and thereby getting penalized for early withdrawal? Or if I buy the stocks, are these stocks in my IRA portfolio until I withdraw the money from the IRA?  <response>: Its a bad idea because your target retirement fund will most likely out-perform your stock picks over the long run. You would just be wasting time, IMO. Just contribute and let Vanguard do all the work. 