<prompt> Human: I dont know what all of these are exactly but I wanna get it figured out. I have a 401k and I noticed my employee has the option for a roth 401k and I want to know if I should take advantage of that. Ive been meaning to open a Roth IRA regardless. Does it matter where I open it? I already have a Schwab account should I just do it there? Once I open an IRA account how do I know how to set up my investments? Is it something I can figure out? It seems confusing. Again I have no idea what mutual funds, IRAs, index funds, etc are. Any input is appreciated. Thanks. Edit. So many replies. Im going to wait till Sunday to read everything so I have time to fully research. I GREATLY appreciate all the feedback. I love you all.  <response>: As a 51 yo I just want to congratulate you on being very wise...the smartest thing you can do to save is leveraging time and starting early...well done! 