Where to Save for Retirement

If you’ve got access to [intlink id="575" type="post"]IRAs, 401(k)s, and Roth accounts[/intlink] then where is the best place to put your money? It’s probably not immediately clear from the pros and cons, but there’s a straight forward method to ensure you’re getting the most from your accounts.

In Step 4 of the Financial Blueprint we start saving 15% of our pre-tax income for retirement. This may sound high to some people and it will probably feel high if you’re not doing these steps in order. For those of you who cut out retirement savings (like you were supposed to) to work these steps in the optimum order, this is where you will catch up and blow by those who tried to do too much at once.

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Retirement Account Basics

You’ve of course heard that it’s important to be saving for retirement, but the jargon and choices can be intimidating when you’re first getting started. It’s a shame our education system doesn’t teach us something that everyone must understand to retire, but at least we all know the chemical formula for salt (give it a second, you know it).

Retirement savings is different then regular savings because it’s set aside in it’s own account. These accounts are tax advantaged in one way or another to incentivize you to save (because we all know how awesome social security is). With a few exceptions, once you put money into retirement savings accounts it’s stuck there until you retire.

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When To Invest

I love the scene from Meet The Parents where Ben Stiller is chatting with Owen Wilson, the rich ex-fiance of his girlfriend.  “How’s your portfolio right now?” Wilson asks.  “Oh… I’d say strong… to… quite strong…”  Our culture has put your investment portfolio center stage as the single most important wealth building asset.  But how [...]

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How Much Was That Stock?

Tell someone around the office tomorrow you got a great buy on a stock and they’ll most certainly reply “how much was it?”   Although that’s exactly the wrong question to ask, our consumerist nature and media influence compel us to ask anyway.  After reading this article I hope you’ll reply, “What difference does it [...]

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