Once you have decided to set up a Roth Ira (or any IRA) account, your next task would to determine what would be the best Roth IRA investment type that would deliver to you the investment returns you desire. You will have to consider several factors as you try to answer that question, and among these factors are:

The amount of your Roth IRA

The investment time frame

Your other investments

Your investing style

Size of your Roth IRA. There is no minimum size required by the tax laws for a Roth IRA. However, providers generally set minimum sizes on their Roth IRA accounts. If one provider refuses to accept your Roth IRA because it is too small, you can try another.

The larger provider is not always the best Roth IRA provider. If you are starting small, it will do you better to choose a simple investment that will not involve a lot of transaction fees or require too much attention.

Time Frame. The best Roth IRA investment will depend on your time frame. When you are investing for the long term, you may as well try to take some risk in the hope of obtaining higher rewards. If the risk produces losses, you will have plenty of time to recover because of the longer time frame. But if you prefer short term investments, you may have to play a little conservative and put a bigger premium on asset protection.

Other Investments. Your savings and investment portfolio may include a 401K account or a brokerage account. You may want to consider using your Roth IRA to provide more risk/return balance to your overall portfolio. Another consideration is the allocation of your assets between taxable and non-taxable accounts.

The best Roth IRA investment would be that which gives the optimum overall balance to your portfolio. For instance, there are financial experts who would advise putting assets that produce mostly ordinary income (like interest or low-rate dividends) in an IRA or other non-taxable investment account, and investing your taxable accounts in assets that generate long-term capital gain or are likely to produce dividends higher than 15%.

Investing style. It would not make much sense if you were to put your Roth IRA in an investment that would give you sleepless nights. The best Roth IRA investment should be one that you are comfortable with. There are investors who are willing to risk not insignificant losses just so they have a shot at higher gains.

Conversely, others would prefer to accept a lower return in exchange for a greater feeling of security about their investment. Your investing style may affect your investment choice in another way.

Some types of investments perform admirably if you ignore them for extended periods, but others need more frequent attention. Would you be able to invest much time and effort into your Roth IRA investments?

You will also have to select your Roth IRA provider. You can select among banks (which includes commercial banks, trust companies, savings and loans, credit unions, and the like), mutual fund companies, brokerage firms and insurance companies. Your choice will be a personal decision that depends on the degree of trust you place in an institution.