2

7/17/2008 7:51:53 PM

^^^ True, but it's not getting matched or anything. But it also won't be taxed at all when I get it all returned to me next summer. I plan on using it to invest in a real retirement plan when I get it.

7/17/2008 7:52:10 PM

not enough

7/17/2008 7:55:38 PM

^^^^ use one of those funds that have a target retirement date, those are the bomb.

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 7:57 PM. Reason : these fucking "^"s]

7/17/2008 7:56:31 PM

^ I got a lot of my stuff in a Target 2045 fund

7/17/2008 7:57:04 PM

^^^ Considering most people I know out of college for two years are in debt, I don't think I'm doing so bad.

7/17/2008 8:05:27 PM

why you rollin your eyes at me

7/17/2008 8:13:19 PM

^^he was saying he didnt have enough, not you

7/17/2008 8:14:48 PM

cost basis going up, portfolio value going down

luckily i don't aim to touch this for another 30+ years

also i am about to be vested in my pension

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 8:15 PM. Reason : +]

7/17/2008 8:14:56 PM

I hope you kids with 401k's who are contributing more than the matching from your employers have maxed out Roth's.

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 8:19 PM. Reason : ]

7/17/2008 8:18:00 PM

lol my bad

7/17/2008 8:18:35 PM

word on the skreets is they bout to be confiscatin that shit

7/17/2008 8:20:01 PM

i get vested in my pension in another year and a half

totally not banking on the pension coming through but if it does, then awesome

7/17/2008 8:22:25 PM

yeah I have entirely too many retirement accounts

- Traditional 401k
- Roth 401k
- Rollover IRA
- Roth IRA


bah

7/17/2008 8:25:27 PM

no such thing as a roth 401k...

7/17/2008 8:26:00 PM

lol CALLED OUT

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 8:28 PM. Reason : nvm.. i admit i don't know]

7/17/2008 8:26:31 PM

I'm in the same boat as wolfy.

Got dat pension, but don't really plan on it being around.

Max the Roth, push ~1,200/mo to the 401k.

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 8:27 PM. Reason : ^^yes there is]

7/17/2008 8:26:37 PM

No, there is.

7/17/2008 8:26:45 PM

I promise you there is such thing as a Roth 401k

But in your defense it is a relatively new type of account.

7/17/2008 8:28:23 PM

It's not a pre-tax plan like a true 401k is.

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 8:29 PM. Reason : ]

7/17/2008 8:29:00 PM

educate me yo

7/17/2008 8:29:05 PM

It's a retirement savings plan set up by an employer where you can contribute money to it after-tax that is treated like a Roth IRA.

I'm looking to see if the limits on it are those of the Roth IRA (which I suspect) or the 401k.

I think because it is set up by an employer and contributions are handled through payroll is why it gets the 401k label.

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 8:30 PM. Reason : ]

7/17/2008 8:30:03 PM

It's a post-tax contribution plan offered through an employer like a traditional 401k

http://www.roth401k.com/

7/17/2008 8:30:04 PM

so you can only get it if your employer offers it?

7/17/2008 8:31:14 PM

oh shit i forgot about my ESPP - yeah one of those too.

though i guess i can treat that as regular compensation since i can sell out sans penalty at anytime.

7/17/2008 8:31:54 PM

im trying to max out the roth ira for as long as i can bc i'll be out of the earning bracket after a little while and will have to switch to traditional iras

7/17/2008 8:33:14 PM

Being able to take your contributions out of a Roth IRA penalty/tax free after 5 years is a nice advantage too.

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 8:38 PM. Reason : ]

7/17/2008 8:37:36 PM

though you never should except in extreme emergency - a loan from your 401k I can understand but an early distribution (especially pre-30? ) isn't really a good idea.

7/17/2008 8:39:17 PM

Not quite only in emergency.

How about you have a child, max out your Roth IRA and voila, when he/she is 18 you have a college fund.

If she gets scholarships, etc. great. It's still your retirement fund.

If not, it's one of the best vehicles for saving for retirement, or college, or buying a house.

If you want to save more for retirement, turn to a 401k/403b/457 plan.

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 8:42 PM. Reason : ]

7/17/2008 8:42:02 PM

Quote :

"I'm looking to see if the limits on it are those of the Roth IRA (which I suspect) or the 401k."

the current $15,500 401k contribution limit can be any combination of traditional and roth (assuming your employer offers a roth option). and that is in addition to a roth ira

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 9:01 PM. Reason : hooray for maxing out both roth ira and 401k!]

7/17/2008 8:59:21 PM

A Roth 401k contribution is an after tax contribution, but when you withdrawal the money the earnings on that money are not taxed. As opposed to regular after-tax earnings, which are taxed.

They are relatively new and your plan sponsor decides whether or not to make them available. Right now most plans don't, but they are gaining popularity.

7/17/2008 9:01:04 PM

my company is so old school i doubt they'd switch

or offer it for that matter

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 9:06 PM. Reason : kjfklsdfj]

7/17/2008 9:06:00 PM

got the full 4% going in to get a 1% employer match, I've only been in the 401k system for about 1.5-2 years, so I dont have much in there yet

I wish I knew more about economics and shit, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to IRAs, stocks and investing in general

7/17/2008 9:09:55 PM

Quote :

"no such thing as a roth 401k... "

yeah there is. i'm not up on all the details, but i know it exists.


I don't have a 401k. Military people have the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), but it isn't matched. I haven't bothered with it. I max a Roth IRA, put about the same amount into stocks/funds in my taxable Scottrade acct, and then $150/month into my savings money market acct.

I know the TSP offers tax advantages, but it only has very limited choices in terms of what i can invest in:

-S&P 500 index
-Wilshire 4500 index
-EAFE index (Europe, Australia, eastern Asia)

and then bonds and gov't securities, which i have no interest in anytime soon.

Maybe I'll keep swinging for the fences in my taxable brokerage account for another 10 years or so, then move to the TSP as I move up the tax brackets and need to start taming my investments and get into bonds.

7/17/2008 9:10:52 PM

my company does a 6% match

i have no idea wtf i am doing with the investing part so i hired a financial advisor who is awesome (and he has experience, he isnt some business major 1 year out of school who couldnt find a job)

pick up a few books and get an advisor. i love having someone i can call and ask questions. i like to read the books to educate myself on it and having him to call and explain how i can maximize my financial position

when i hired him i told him i didnt need a pitch on the importance of saving, i'm already sold on that, i just need help growing it & reallocating/adjusting my 401k once a year

7/17/2008 9:13:00 PM

http://www.fool.com

maybe get a subscription to Money or something...it's like $10/year, I think.

Investing really isn't rocket surgery. In fact, it's not difficult at all. People psyche themselves out or something, I think.

7/17/2008 9:17:09 PM

its not that I'm intimidated, I just literally dont know jack shit about it and dont really know where to start, maybe I'll get a subscription to Money or a similar magazine as a launching point.

7/17/2008 9:20:31 PM

damn, I knew there was something I forgot to get. hummm..... 401k , put that on my list of things to get. it will go right after job.

7/17/2008 9:21:01 PM

i subscribe to money magazine, good shit. its def geared to an older audience but i learn stuff all the time

also, im reading smart women finish rich which is a really great book. there is also another version called smart couples finish rich, both by david bach. he writes in a very easy to understand format that motivates you to take action

7/17/2008 9:24:50 PM

yeah, most financial magazines are geared towards older/wealthier/higher income types, but you can get FUCKING RICH on a middle class salary, and it's not difficult--it just requires some planning and discipline. i personally like http://www.fool.com a lot. the subscription costs a couple hundred bucks per year (i have it, but really for my own education as much as just for mirroring their stock picks), but it's not necessary. there's a shit ton of good, free, easy to understand information on there, and a lot of it is geared towards the rank beginner.

7/17/2008 9:28:20 PM

http://www.mint.com is a good FREE site for keeping track of your money. you enter your login info for your accounts, retirement stuff, loans, credit cards etc and it automatically creates interactive pie charts for you to analyze how you spend money.

i dont like installing programs and populating them, i like that the website does it for me and i can login whenever i want and see how my spending is going

7/17/2008 9:31:42 PM

ha, i don't like budgeting or keeping track of financial stuff.

i have all my savings automatically drafted from my checking account on paydays: $416/month to my Roth IRA, $400 to my Scottrade account, and $150 into my money market acct (used to be $200, but I cut it back a little when I reached a specific goal I had for savings).

Other than that, I can spend it all on hookers and blow and not feel bad about it (child support is due on the 1st, which is a payday, so I'll always be able to cover that).

I still don't live paycheck to paycheck--even if I do spend all of it for a month, I've accumulated, ohhh, about a paycheck's worth in my checking account...the point is that I save everything I want FIRST, then don't really worry about the rest of it.

I have no idea how much I spend each month on most things. Sometimes I'll even buy things, hand over a $20 or my credit card, and 1 minute later not remember at all how much I just spent. I'm sure I could be more efficient, but I have no interest in doing so--that's labor, and that's being a slave to your money. It's the financial equivalent of counting calories, and I don't want to do it (just as I stay in shape by staying big-picture...I do the right things, and the details fall into place on their own).

[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 9:44 PM. Reason : ASDFADS]

7/17/2008 9:39:27 PM

i hate budgeting too, the website is great for just tracking and seeing where the money is going. it has a budget feature if you want to use it but i dont

7/17/2008 9:40:10 PM

Quote :

"Being able to take your contributions out of a Roth IRA penalty/tax free after 5 years is a nice advantage too."

You can take contributions out of a Roth IRA tax/penalty free at any time for any reason. You've already paid taxes on it.

On the earnings you have to be 59.5 and held them for a minumum of 5 years to get penalty free distributions unless you meet certain criteria (education, first home, etc)


ANd yes you can contribute up to $15,500 this year to a Roth 401k. But only if your employer offers it... approx ~10-20% do I'd estimate but its gaining popularity.

Just know that any matching contributions you get will be treated as a pre-tax source.



[Edited on July 17, 2008 at 10:40 PM. Reason : a]

7/17/2008 10:38:42 PM

$0 Bob

7/17/2008 10:39:40 PM

Nothing.

I work for a company in which I have no confidence, at least no confidence in it's ability to survive another decade.

7/17/2008 11:21:52 PM

nortel?

7/17/2008 11:26:43 PM

umm your 401k is yours no matter what happens to your company... they dont take it if they shut down shop

people need more education.

if you leave your company you can roll your 401k into an ira and open a new 401k at your new job if they offer it

7/17/2008 11:27:05 PM

lol i only buy the necessities of life so tracking my money is easy

7/17/2008 11:28:54 PM

→

7/17/2008 11:40:15 PM