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.