<prompt> Human: Im looking to open up a trading account but cant decide if I should open up a Roth IRA and individual account or just an individual account. The max contribution is 5,500 for the Roth IRA around 450 per month. Im currently maxing out my work 401K but I have left over money to invest. I will have about 12,000 extra to invest, should I max out my Roth IRA contribution for tax advantage purposes and invest the remaining amount in an individual account? Or should I only use an individual account to maximize compounding interest?Thanks for the advice!A little more info: Using Vanguard, investing strategy long term index funds  <response>: It doesnt matter if the money is in the same account or not. You wont get more due to compound interest. Multiplication doesnt work like that. 5 of 1k5 of 1k5 of 2k. 