Charles schwab retirement plan

I am in my early twenties, single, working an entry level job. I don't make a ton of money but I want to start saving now. I don't want to use my savings account at my bank because it is too easy to take funds out. i want an "out of sight, out of mind" account set up so that I can start saving for my future. I am thinking a living trust is the best thing to set up but I am taking all suggestions. I virtually know nothing about savings accounts (besides having one linked to my checking).

I'm new to investing, and I recently started a Roth IRA with Charles Schwab. In the two months since I began investing, my shares have gone done about 4%. I know when you're investing like this, there's always the potential to lose money. I don't plan to retire until after 2045, so I can be more aggressive, but I guess I didn't plan on losing so much so soon. Is this normal, or do I need to take my money and invest it in another fund? Since I'm not very experienced in this area, I just pi

An investment grp such as T Rowe price,Fidelity,Charles Schwab etc investing in conservative investments.

I plan to invest in no load mutual funds (s&p 500 index funds) for wealth accumulation and open up an IRA account for retirement. There's many brokerages I've heard of like Edward Jones, Vanguard, Janus, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, TD Waterhouse/Ameritrade, E*Trade, Sharebuilder, Scottrade, etc. Though I heard ShareBuilder rips people off. I plan to start with between 2K - 2500K each for both my Mutual Fund account and IRA account. Which brokerages are better for both long term and which one