My first investment was in a Roth IRA with Vanguard and I've been really happy with it! You might want to try a target-date fund if you're completely new to investing. That's because the asset allocation on target-date funds gets adjusted automatically without you having to do it yourself.

But before you start with that, check and see whether your company offers a 401(k) and whether they match your contributions. If so, you'll probably want to start with that first. I was a freelancer at the time so I didn't have the 401(k) option.

I have my Roth IRA with Fidelity. Here is a website with some basic info about how a Roth IRA works from the Fidelity website. https://www.fidelity.com/ira/roth-ira

Also if you go to "Choose Your Investments" on the bottom of the page it takes you to a section which tells you more about the funds, etc. A lot of Roth IRAs will have minimum initial deposit balances of $2,000 or more. So until you get to that amount you might want to try a high-interest savings account.

A low expense ratio means that on the funds you are investing in, they will charge you a fee to manage the fund. Some funds do not have fees or have lower fees depending on the management structure of the fund.

There are no "typical" returns on a Roth IRA - you can leave your investment in cash if you want, or you can invest a portion in stocks, bonds, etc. Your return will depend on what you invest in.

If you are wanting to use this money for something within the next 5 years, I would not invest it in anything other than cash, because otherwise you are very exposed to short term market volatilty. In that case, a high-interest savings account would probably be your best tool for your goals.