retirement on my mind
I haven’t been talking about my retirement savings much lately, but it has been on my mind… I have a traditional IRA, mainly because I started a 401K at my previous job, and when I was laid off, I rolled the balance over into the IRA to keep from having to pay taxes on the money. I couldn’t roll it into a Roth, so there’s my little bit of money in a Fidelity account. I’ve been adding about 10% of my net pay into it - not always 10 and not every pay period, but most of the 10 and most of the time. I know I should do better, but dangit, all I can think about lately is this house I’m saving for. Besides, I’m kind of hoping that I’ll be able to catch up with my next 401K and matching. All I can say is, don’t be like me - all the advice I’ve been reading says that the key to retirement savings is to save early, save regularly, and save with discipline.
Anyway, I want a Roth, for its tax advantages and for its flexibility. It’s what I’ve wanted for a while, but I didn’t get around to it because I was so busy getting rid of my credit card debt. By the time I got rid of my revolving debt, I’d already started and lost the 401K. Now, as my rollover IRA is growing and approaching an amount where I’m comfortable putting less than $100 a month in it, as long as I’m also contributing a more substantial amount to another retirement account, I’m thinking that I might want to open a Roth with Vanguard… I need to do some research. Or maybe talk to someone. I’m worried about whether or not I’m making my retirement saving situation more complicated than it needs to be, especially while I’m still looking for a job, saving for this house, and 401K-less.
