Do You Have an IRA?

[CrackerJacks]

My husband works two jobs, both of which provide retirement (401K etc). I however, have Nothing. This does not sit well with me. I know I don't want to work FOREVER..and that I need to have something set aside (im
already in my mid 30's) but I'm so very confused on where to even start. Do you have an IRA? Roth or regular? Where did you go to open it? Do you pick your own stocks etc, or let someone do that for you? Help, Advice, anything!

[Starburst]

I think you can see about getting your own private 401 K but I think there is a limit to how much you can put in it.

[laundrymom]

Talk to a financial planner. They are very helpful. I did, and he set up avccts for me.

[VTMom]

Do you have a pretty cush savings account set aside for emergencies? The target balance used to equal to 6 months expenses, but I think they suggest a savings account that could cover a year's worth of expenses. Setting this up in an interest earning money market account would work. That way you'd earn interest plus have liquidity.

As far as retirement, you can search online for IRA's if that's the route you want to go. There are many options where you can contribute a small amount monthly automatically. Check Fidelity or something like that. Talking to a financial planner would help too.

Good luck! Once you get the ball rolling the rest will fall into place.

[itlw8]

I have a regular IRA why ? because I opened it before there was a ROTH

The earlier you start the better. Compound interest you know. We have a mutual fund and it comes out of my checking account automatically each month.

[canadiancare]

I don't know how the US works but here in Canada my husband has taken out spousal RRSPs in my name. He gets to reduce his income now and the theory (rightly so) is that when it comes time to draw on them I will have a lower income than he does so our taxes will work out better.

I don't have a lot (30K) and more and more I have been reading that another option is to pay down your home faster since your mortgage interest rate may be higher than the interest average that funds are earning these days.

[tenderhearts]

We both have roth IRAs

[butterfly]

I have a Roth Ira set up through a financial advisor that works at our bank. I did lots of research on this before hand and my financial advisor seemed impressed that I actually knew what he was talking about when he discussed A shares, B shares, etc. I'd certainly do your homework before hand and find an advisor that is willing to TEACH you so that you don't feel like they are just lining their pockets.

I personally think the Roth is the best option for me being self employeed. I have my Roth set up to pay the fees up front (A shares/front load) so that I don't have any fees later on. You also don't have to pay any taxes on withdraws when you retire. You can also pull out your investments - under certain situations - without penalty BEFORE retirement if you needed that money in an emergency. However, I agree with another poster about having a healthy emergency fund set up first.

My Roth is in various mutual funds, no single stock shares. The risk is spread out between international and US funds and a variety of low and higher risk funds. I had the option to choose where I wanted my money. If you didn't feel comfortable with that, discuss your retirement goals with a good advisor and they can help you manage your account.

I have monthly contributions pulled out of my checking account automatically. I can also choose to make additional contributions whenever I want. This is all done online and is very easy. I budget to have 15% of my income go to retirement each month. This is non negotiable for me. I hope to increase this after our mortgage is paid. Although I enjoy my job, I want to enjoy my retirement too.

I am a believer in Dave Ramsey. If you browse his website it may provide some insight also. I took one of Dave's classes a few years ago and that sparked my desire to really get rolling on my retirement savings. I believe his book Financial Peace University also discusses retirement options.

[itlw8]

I would disagree about the healthy emergency fund first. WHY because you will put off starting it and miss all that compound interest.

Do set up a baby emergency fund first of 1000 but then I think you need to start a Roth IRA even if it is only $50 a month. we started with $25 a month.

Then as you pay off debts and grow that 8 month emergency fund you can increase it to the max amount. If we had started our in our 20's instead of lat 30's we would have far far more than we do. So even if you need to stop putting money in during hard times it keeps growing.

We were stupid and took out whole life insurance. So when we converted it to a much bigger term life policy the ins agent helped us move the money into an IRA through their company.

[Lucy]

I think EVERYONE should have an IRA! Even if you can only put $25 a month in it, it will really grow fast. And maybe later you can increase that to $50, and then $100, etc.

I started one in my mid-20's (I'm almost 50 now), and was only able to put in $50 a month. A few years later I did $100. When I left the company I had worked at for 13 years, I got a sizable amount from my "Profit Sharing" account, and I rolled that into an IRA.

Now that I'm married, we put $200 in mine and $200 in my husband's. It's basically equivalent to a car payment. It comes out from his paycheck automatically. He gets paid every-other Wednesday, and we have them scheduled so that mine comes out one paycheck, and his comes out the next paycheck. We've always done it, so we don't "miss" the money, because we're used to it not really being there, so to speak.

These IRA's - particularly mine - have grown REALLY well. Even with the recession lately, we're still growing. Just not as quickly as we were prior to the recession. I strongly recommend one for everybody!

Just call a financial planner. We use Waddell & Reed. Also in our area is Edward Jones. Not sure if either one of those are nation-wide, but just do a search for financial planner and you'll come up with something. Do it!!!!

Oh, and we have mutual funds. Our money is divided among several different things. Do a little research to become familiar with the buzz words, but if you feel like you don't understand, it's ok. Hopefully you'll get a good financial planner who can explain things. When we have our telephone "appointments" once a year, I feel like most of it goes over my head, but I trust our planner. She's done great with us so far!