Someone asked at Yahoo Answers: Hi I m 30 years old and want to save for my retirement. I know I should have started saving years ago but I m starting now. I don t know where to start or where to go. My job does not have a 401k. So can someone please point me in the right direction.

Keep it simple. The Roth Ira is a problem because if you need the money before you're old enough you pay a penalty. Also, don't let professional idiots (for example Fidelity and Vanguard) make your investment decisions for you. You do not want to share your retirement income with idiots. You have a brain. You can make your own decisions. You just need to know how to do a few things. 

Starting at age 30 is a good thing, much better than most people. Get a Charles Schwab checking account and brokerage account. Everything can be done on the internet including buying shares. No humans required. But if you have a question there are people at Schwab who will for free answer your questions. 

Everything at their checking account is free. They don't nickel and dime you like the other banks. You can set up direct deposit for your paycheck. If you need to deposit checks you can mail it in using their free envelops, no post office stamps necessary. Now with a mouse click you can transfer your money between the 2 accounts, checking and brokerage, which takes about 5 seconds. 

After much research (I recommend Seeking Alpha which has articles about companies and comments written by very experienced investors) select the best Dividend Aristocrats (companies who have been increasing their dividend every year for at least 25 years including during the worst recessions). The companies you choose should be selling stuff that will be required until the end of time. PG and JNJ are good examples (PG & JNJ are stock symbols, look it up). 

Buy shares of the best Dividend Aristocrats, hold for life, never sell, never worry about stock market crashes, sleep well at night. You are only interested in the growing dividend income. Also, with one mouse click you can have Charles Schwab automatically reinvest your dividends for free which will make your income grow even faster. 

All this can be done online without humans. If you don't understand something look it up or call Schwab for help. These people exist to answer dumb questions. 

Keep it simple. To avoid tax problems do not buy REITs and do not buy foreign corporations. Do not buy corporations who call their dividends "distributions". They should call their dividends "dividends". At tax time you only have to report your dividend income for which the tax is very low, or zero. 

Check out the company's website. Check out Seeking Alpha and other places. Research is important. If done right you will never have to sell anything. 

The idea that you can buy shares and then hope the price goes up so you can sell for profit is not investing. It's gambling and in the long run gambling can wipe you out. You should be only interested in the dividend income, never caring if the price goes up or down. You will learn how to love market crashes. While the idiots panic you will just calmly buy more shares for a cheaper price and a higher annual dividend yield which will grow every year. Dividends get paid every 3 months. At this time you can let Schwab reinvest those dividends for you automatically for free (if you click your mouse to get this feature) or you can reinvest those dividends yourself in some other company with or without more of your own money. 

When you buy shares the Charles Schwab fee is $8.95 for an unlimited amount of shares. This is a reasonable price and it's a one time expense. Once you own the shares you never have to pay any fee unless you sell those shares and you will not be selling because you will hold for life. 

What if you get fired (it can happen to anyone)? Not a problem. While you are looking for a new job, in addition to unemployment checks from the government you can depend on your dividend income. Don't sell any shares. Just stop reinvesting dividends temporarily until you get a new job. This is another advantage of conservative dividend investing. You always have that 2nd income to depend on in an emergency. Remember - never sell. This is called "Don't Touch The Principle".

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