Best tax advantaged acccount for my situation?

[Alex Silang]

I make about 50k a year, and I have some savings that I want to put a tax advantaged account. It might be used for real estate, it might not. It's not an emergency fund (I already have one). It's likely going to be put in a stock market index fund for awhile. 

I was reading how self-directed IRAs have high annual fees, so that's probably not the best option.

[Mark S.]

@Alex Silang, depending on the amount, you might consider a Roth IRA. You always have access to your CONTRIBUTIONS (not earnings/growth) tax and penalty free.

Based on your income, it appears you are eligible to make direct Roth IRA contributions. If you do so fairly soon (before tax deadline), you should also be able to make both a 2019 and 2020 contribution. This would be $6,000 and $6,500 respectively.