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Benefits of a Roth IRA

08.26.2019 by admin // 2 Comments

There are several retirement account options available in the United States including Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs and 401(k) plans. Even if you already contribute to a 401(k) plan at work, there are many benefits unique to a Roth IRA. You should contribute to a Roth IRA as part of your retirement savings strategy.

What Is A Roth IRA

A Roth IRA is a retirement account that offers you a tax benefit when you retire. Unlike traditional IRAs and 401(k) plans Roth IRA contributions are not tax deductible but you also do not pay taxes when you withdraw money at age 59 ½ +. There are certain Roth IRA rules such as income requirements and contribution limits you need to follow.

Broad Variety of Roth IRA Investment Options

In a Roth IRA account you can select what you want to invest in such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds. You can invest in nearly any financial asset but you cannot invest in other assets like artwork for example. Any financial asset offered by the financial institution you have your Roth IRA with can be invested in through your Roth IRA. This is a benefit offered by a Roth IRA that you don’t have in your 401(k) plan. A 401(k) plan offered by your employer typically only has a few options of what you can invest in.

Roth IRA Tax Benefits

Roth IRAs are funded with post tax contributions. This means you pay taxes on your Roth IRA contributions before you put it in the account. This is different from a 401(k) plan where you contribute money that hasn’t been taxed yet. Once the money is in your Roth IRA account the earnings grow tax free.

Borrowing Money from Roth IRA Earnings

It’s not recommended that you borrow money from a Roth IRA. However, if you get in a bind, there are a few benefits to taking out a loan / distribution from a Roth IRA. With a Roth IRA, you may have to pay a 10% penalty for an early withdrawal but there are a few exceptions. You can withdraw all or part of your money penalty free for 60 days as part of a Roth IRA rollover but you must pay back the full amount in that time frame.

You can also request a qualified distribution that you don’t have to pay back for a few reasons including buying or building your first home (up to $10,000 cap), certain education expenses or if you become disabled. Investopedia shares more details here about withdrawing from a Roth IRA. If this is something you are considering, it is best to contact your financial institution first. However, when you withdraw money from your Roth IRA you lose the tax benefits of those contributions earning capital gains and dividends tax free.

With a 401(k) loan, you can only take a loan out for a current 401(k) plan. You also may have to pay taxes on your loan and interest which is typically an interest point or two above the prime rate. Your loan is also limited to $50,000 or 50% of your balance, whichever is lower.

Roth IRA Contribution Withdrawals At Any Time

With a Roth IRA you are always able to withdraw your contributions penalty free (note: contributions, not earnings). You’ve already paid taxes on your Roth IRA contributions. Therefore, you can withdraw your contributions at any time with no restrictions. If you withdraw earnings on those contributions though, you may be taxed or penalized on withdrawing this money.

Once you hit 59 ½, as long as you’ve held the account for at least five years, you can take distributions on all money within the account and do not have to pay taxes on that money. Both 401(k) plans and Traditional IRA plans require you to pay taxes when you withdraw the money.

No Minimum Required Distribution for Roth IRAs

There are no required minimum distributions for Roth IRA accounts. Both 401(k) plans and Traditional IRA plans have required minimum distributions beginning at age 70 ½. If these plans are your only retirement saving strategy this could mean you’re in a high tax bracket depending what your required minimum distribution is. You don’t have the option to withdraw less to end up in a lower tax bracket. Since there is no required minimum distribution beginning at 70 ½ with a Roth IRA you don’t ever have to withdraw from this account. You can opt to pass this money onto your heirs.

Roth IRA Benefits Summary

It is a good retirement strategy to have a Roth IRA along with a 401(k) or traditional IRA to reduce the amount of taxes you’ll have to pay once retired and also to take advantage of the tax benefits offered by a 401(k) plan while you’re working. Having a mix of both will help reduce your taxes both now and in retirement. You’ll also have more flexibility with investment options and flexibility to borrow money from the account if you’re ever in a desperate situation.

Smart Money Moves In Your 20s

08.09.2019 by admin // 13 Comments

How to Invest Money In Your 20s, how to save money in your 20s, build wealth in your 20s, smart financial moves in your 20s

Making smart financial moves is important at any age, but if you’re in your 20s, smart money moves early on will set you up for success for decades to come. This is true whether you decide to be single, end up with a partner or end up having a family. Increasing your income, investing your money, creating an emergency fund, getting out of any debt and being smart with your spending are all key to be build wealth in your 20s.

Hustle At Your Job

Your lifetime earnings are decided in the first decade of your career. If you went to college and graduate in 4 years the first 8 years of your career will fall in your 20s. Make these years count. Don’t get distracted by spending too much time thinking about how to save money. Increasing your income early on will help you build wealth in your 20s.

Create a plan to double or triple your salary, no matter how crazy that amount may seem at the time. This plan may include strategic networking to get promoted or switch industries, identifying what you need to do advance your career, get another degree and / or expand your skill set. Dream big and create a plan with steps you can act upon to get to that dream. If you only dream it and don’t take actionable steps towards that goal it will always remain a dream.

What if you don’t have the job you want or don’t know what you want to do yet? That’s ok, you don’t need to have everything figured out. Continue to hustle and start to better understand what you don’t like and build your network. Get a career sponsor and a career mentor. It is easier to switch jobs when you have a network that can help you get that first interview.

Begin Building a Passive Income Stream or Side Hustle To Make More Money

Making money isn’t limited to just your day job. Build wealth in your 20s by starting to build a passive income stream. Generating a passive income stream doesn’t require a lot of effort. And, you will have a compounding effect as your net worth increases. It won’t seem like much money as you are starting out. But, it’ll begin good habits and that amount will increase over time.

If you’re in debt or are only beginning to build your wealth generate more money through a side hustle. The amount of money you make in a side hustle usually is proportional to the amount of hours you spend on it. For example, you’ll make more money on Instacart based on the number of jobs you accept. Other side hustles, like writing an e-book, will require a lot of effort up front. Over time, these side hustles will turn into passive income streams.

Invest In Yourself In Your 20s

Investing in your 20s isn’t limited to investing your money. You also need to invest in yourself. You’ve invested in yourself by attending college, but learning doesn’t end there. There are other professional certifications and additional degrees that can significantly increase your earning potential. Investing in yourself in your 20s is easiest when you have fewer responsibilities. This can mean getting your MBA or another Masters degree, getting your CPA, CFA or PMP.

Investing in yourself also isn’t limited to education. Take time to travel and learn new cultures, exercising regularly and eating healthy. Healthy habits also pay dividends in the decades to come.

Start Saving Money In Your 20s

Saving money in your 20s starts with knowing where your money goes, creating a budget and then starting to save money.

Where should you put the money you’ve saved? Money saved in your 20s should first be used to build an emergency fund. An emergency fund is money that is easily accessible and liquid (such as money held in a checking account or savings account) that you have for when things go wrong. This includes an unexpected health bill, unexpected car repair, if you lose your job and so forth. The golden rule is 3-6 months of expenses but it really depends on your situation. You can find a calculator here to help identify how big your emergency fund should be.

Invest Money In Your 20s

Start investing money in your 20s. How much should you invest? As much as you can. That money will compound over time and help you create a passive income stream. You can automate your savings through direct deposit and then invest that money in a brokerage account. There are many potential big expenses on the horizon like a house, additional education, car, family and it’s much easier to put a down payment on a house or pay out of pocket for grad school if you started building your savings on day 1. No amount is too small to invest.

It’s not enough to just save money though, you also need to get your money to work for you. Invest your money in stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and bonds.

See Also: How to Start Investing

Build Wealth In Your 20s By Saving for Retirement

The easiest way to build wealth in your 20s is to save for retirement. Companies offer 401(k) matches and your contributions are tax free. Without question, take advantage of your company 401(k) match. This is free money. It’s ok to only meet the match when you’re starting your career but if you don’t meet the match you are leaving free money on the table. As your career progresses, look for opportunities to significantly increase your 401(k) contributions and max it out to take full advantage of the tax benefits.

You can also build wealth in your 20s by contributing to a Roth IRA. While your income is low open a Roth IRA. Contributions to a Roth IRA are not tax deductible but when your income is low this has less of an impact. The tax benefits to a Roth IRA are when you take the money out in retirement you aren’t taxed on any gains and there are no required minimum distributions. As your income increases, you may hit a point where your eligibility is phased out and then are not eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA anymore. At that point you’d have to look into a Backdoor Roth IRA so it’s best to take advantage of a Roth IRA as soon as you can. A Roth IRA is pretty straightforward, but there are a few Roth IRA rules to be aware of.

At first your retirement accounts will seem really low. But, by the time you turn 30 you’ll be impressed with how much your wealth has grown in these accounts.

Minimize Your Debt

It’s important to keep your debt to a minimum or get out of debt completely in order grow your wealth in your 20s. In the Class of 2018 69% of college students took out student loans and graduated with an average debt of $29,800 according to Student Loan Hero. How can you start chipping away at this as quickly as possible? There are also companies that are offering loan forgiveness as one of their company perks.

While you may already have student loan debt, you don’t need to find yourself in additional debt, especially from credit cards.

If you need a car for your job and need to take out an auto loan, spend as little as possible here. Buy used, but also buy smartly. Don’t justify buying a more expensive car because you’ll have it for so many years. The truth is, you have no idea where you’ll be in a few years. You may move into (or out of) a city, to a new country, get married. There are also so many options these days to avoid buying a car such as living and working in a city to take advantage of public transportation, working from home, and working as a consultant and traveling every Mon – Thurs.

Live Like You Are Still in College

Building wealth in your 20s is also dependent on controlling your expenses. When you are in your 20s you either recently graduated or have graduated within the last 10 years. College is recent enough where you can probably recall vividly how you lived during those years: frugally.

In college, you most likely are living in a very tiny space with roommates. You’re surrounded by businesses that offer the college specials. For example, show your student ID to get a certain percentage off and bars that cater to college students with $2 beer nights. You had opportunities to walk across the hall and borrow friends clothing. Meal prep included ramen noodles and microwave mac and cheese.

Is frugal living not for you? This doesn’t have to be a permanent lifestyle, but the longer you’re able to live frugally like you lived in college the easier your finances will be. You don’t have to cut back in all areas either, the single most important expense is housing.

Spend As Little As Possible on Housing

Housing is likely the largest expense in your 20s, and the easiest one to blow. Nice, spacious, well located places are the most expensive. Don’t become “house poor.” Experts say housing should be no more than 30% of your gross income and that includes all housing expenses. You will have to make sacrifices so identify what is most important and where you are more willing to cut. And, if you’re going to live on your own follow these financial tips so you don’t spend too much on housing.

If location is most important, look into studio apartments, living with roommates and a place that is outdated. If you want the nice kitchen and something more spacious you’ll probably have to look at a less ideal location. In some cases this may mean looking at alternative cities, not just across town. When you don’t understand how people can afford certain things you probably don’t have to look much further than the percentage of income that is going towards housing. Bringing your own lunch can save $7 / day or $140 / month. Being smart with your housing can save you hundreds a month and thousands a year.

Limit Spending on Food and Drinks

Limiting spending on food and drinks is a great money move in your 20s because it starts developing discipline around spending money. It’s hard to say no to always going out with friends and spending money on food and drink but it adds up. By learning how to budget and then prioritize how you spend money on food and drinks it will help you prioritize your spending in other areas.

The most frugal way to limit spending money here is to never eat out. But, where is the fun in that? Plus, to the first point on hustling at your job it’s important you build your network and build relationships. You can still go to restaurants and bars and not break the bank. For food and drink, take advantage of happy hour specials. Go over a friends house and have a drink before heading to the bar. When you get to the bar, limit yourself to one drink. Take advantage when there is free food at events. Bring your lunch. There are plenty of ways to continue to enjoy eating out while controlling your spending.

When you buy groceries, look for coupons and deals. There are also ways to spend less on food by buying cheaper options. For example, buy oats and make oatmeal instead of single serve yogurts. You can find dinner recipes and meal planning tips to save money.

Limit Spending on Clothing

Your college wardrobe and professional wardrobe will not look the same so spending money on clothes in unavoidable. It’s unrealistic to expect that you can go on a clothing ban unless you have a robust professional wardrobe from college or what you wear to work is more casual. When you do spend money on clothing, take advantage of sales.

Do spend enough where you look presentable at work. You want to position yourself early on as a go getter and dressing presentable will help form favorable opinions. Don’t break the bank while doing this though, you do not need to buy designer. You can buy nice work outfits from TJ Maxx or buy second hand and look professional. If your company gives you a laptop bag with your laptop use that for the first few months until the right sale comes along. Later, take advantage of Black Friday shopping at the outlets for a nice black tote bag. You do not need to start day 1 (or even year 2) with a Tory Burch or Prada tote bag.

Live Like You Have The Least Money of Your Friend Group

Living like you have the least amount of money of your friend group is easiest to do when you first graduate college. Everyone is just getting established and six months out of college is when the first student loan payment is due. Friends will want to have a few drinks at home before going to the bar to save money. Or, stay in instead of going to a bar. You can go on trips that are driving distance and share rooms with 3 other people. Even if you earn more money than your friends, or have less debt than your friends, spend as if you have that same income limitation or same debt limitation. Then, put that extra money towards your emergency fund, retirement and investing.

As you age, friends will move away and you’ll need to spend money on flights to see them or vice versa. Between careers and starting families it will become harder to see friends and you’ll spend more money to hang out as you prioritize convenience over money.

Don’t Increase Your Spending for 2-3 Years

Lifestyle inflation happens when you increase your spending as your income increases. Spending more now could mean blowing through funds you’ll need for a down payment, retirement, etc. The more you can save when you’re young the easier it is as that savings will continue to generate passive income for you. As your career progresses, this will also become harder to avoid not due to increased expectations but less free time. Things you used to be able to do yourself you will to pay someone to do for you or you won’t have as much time to shop around for a deal. This may be as a result of a more demanding career or deciding to raise a family. Your tastes will also increase as you age.

Take advantage of being young and keep your spending steady the first few years after you graduate, even as your income increases. Live like you are still in college for the first few years and then slowly increase your spending after that. Invest the money you’ve saved instead and take advantage of compounding interest to begin building a passive income stream.

Take Advantage of Company Benefits

A 401(k) match isn’t the only company benefit you should take advantage of. Some health insurance plans offer money towards a gym membership every year. Depending on the industry and area, companies may offer free or discounted food, free gyms on-site, discounts on auto insurance, discounts on personal travel and more. Look at your internal company site to learn more about perks offered by your company. And, if your company doesn’t have great benefits it’s a hot job market now. Ask your friends for an employee referral and interview at another company.

How to Be Smart With Money In Your 20s Summary

The financial recommendations above seem like a lot, especially when you are in your 20s and just starting your career. How are you supposed to fund an emergency fund, invest, pay off your loans and actually live on your salary? Don’t get overwhelmed and take baby steps to start small. The less money you spend, the more money you’ll be able to invest or put towards paying down debt. The more you can increase your income, the less focus you need on keeping your expenses small. These smart money moves in your 20s will help set you up for success for decades to come. Yes, these are the years it’s hardest to do that as you’re likely making the least of your career now. But, your lifestyle expectations are also the lowest. By following the advice above, you’ll be in a great position to build wealth in your 20s.

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How To Save Money As A Wedding Guest

07.07.2019 by admin // 2 Comments

The costs of being a wedding guest really add up. You have the wedding, the bridal shower and possibly a bachelorette party and engagement party to attend as well. Especially if you have more than one wedding to attend, attending weddings get very expensive quickly. Saving money as a wedding guest is critical if you want to be there for your friend’s special day. While it’s exciting when your friend gets engaged, we all know that excitement starts to wear when you see your credit card bill and those wedding checks cashed during wedding season. So, how can you attend weddings, and also have money to pay your own bills? In order to save money as a wedding guest you need to create a budget for how much you’ll spend attending weddings and stick to it. Here are ways to save money as a wedding guest.

Create A Budget For Wedding Season

In order to save money as a wedding guest, you need to know your limit on how much you will spend attending weddings each year. How much are you willing to spend to attend each wedding? How much are you willing to spend attending weddings this year? This includes the weddings, the bachelor or bachelorette parties, the engagement parties and the bridal showers. If you’re traveling to a wedding, include all costs you’ll incur that weekend. Don’t forget to estimate the outfit costs.

Next, create a good estimate of how much you’ll spend on weddings for the year based on the weddings you’ve been invited to. Add a bit of a buffer in case there are engagements and/or weddings you get invited to later on in the year. The table below is a good way to develop that first estimate.

How to save money as a wedding guest: Table showing the estimated price of attending weddings, attending bridal showers, attending bachelorettes and more.

Sticker shock? Same. Below are a few ideas to attend weddings without going broke.

As much as your friends want you to be a part of their big day(s), if they’re really your friend they don’t want you to end up broke because you attended their wedding. It’s important to remember it’s a lose lose lose situation for your friend, yourself, and your wallet if you do this.

Save Money By Skipping The Bridal Shower

Are you a bridesmaid? If not, save money attending weddings by skipping the bridal shower. Do this especially if attending a bridal shower involves a flight. Send a gift from the registry or chip in with a group of friends for a larger gift. If you do attend, check out additional ways to save money attending a bridal shower.

Save Money By Skipping The Bachelorette

Attending every bachelorette (or bachelor party) you’re invited to will cost you thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars. Are you a bridesmaid or groomsman? If not, consider skipping the bachelorette or bachelor party. It’s not fun for you or the bride / groom if you attend and then are stressed the entire time about spending money while there. If you still want to do something for the bride / groom at the bachelorette / bachelor party and can’t afford to attend ask a friend to buy a bottle of wine or champagne on your behalf and reimburse your friend. It’ll show the bride / groom you are thinking about them and you don’t have to worry about spending too much money.

If you do decide to attend the bachelorette party, there are plenty of ways to save money attending a bachelorette party. Splitting a hotel room, carpooling or sharing an Uber and limiting the nights you participate in the bachelorette party are a few ways to save money when attending a bachelorette party.

Save Money Attending The Wedding

Use Credit Card, Hotel, Airline and Car Rental Points

One way to reduce the cost of attending weddings is to use credit card, hotel, airline and car rental points for wedding travel. Mentally, it will make you feel better about spending less money on attending weddings. However, you always had the option of using these points for other travel so you should be careful about justifying using points as a way to save money.

Save Money On Wedding Flights

If you will need to fly to the wedding, book your flight early! Use Hopper to track flight prices as soon as you get the invite and buy when tickets are low. If you wait too long, ticket prices are guaranteed to go up.

Do you travel for work? Is your work travel unpredictable? If work travel doesn’t allow for early booking of flights look for opportunities to align a work trip to a wedding. Sometimes, you’ll be able to have one or both legs of a flight paid for with this approach.

Save Money On The Wedding Lodging

Stay with Family or Friends

The cheapest lodging option is to stay with family or friends. Even if it’s a bit of a drive, it can be cheaper to be a little farther and Uber instead of paying for a hotel. If your friends / family are attending the same wedding offer to pay for the transportation to / from the wedding or pay for a meal.

Share a Hotel Room

The hotel is one of the most expensive parts of the wedding. If you need to save money when attending a wedding, splitting the hotel with friends will make a huge difference. This is especially true if you just graduated college. You just spent 4 years sleeping 2 feet from a roommate, sharing a hotel will feel like a dorm. As you age this will become a less attractive option so save money by splitting a hotel room here while you’re young.

Wedding Guest Outfit

Your Wedding Guest Dress

Let’s be real, with social media there are only so many times you want to wear the same dress. Don’t spend $200-400 on a dress and justify it you’ll wear it all the time. You’ll probably wear it 2-3 times max.

If you and your friends are similar sizes, the best way to save money on your wedding guest outfit is to borrow it. This way, you each can rotate your outfits and only have to buy one dress. The second cheapest option is to buy a dress second hand and sell it after you know you’re not going to wear it any longer. You can also rent a dress on Rent The Runway but sometimes this ends up being more expensive than the two options above. If you are going to buy a dress, plan ahead so you can get it on sale.

If you buy a wedding guest dress (second hand or new) and you’re not going to wear it again, sell it so it lessens the net cost.

Wedding Guest Accessories

Buy the essential accessories ahead of time when you find a good sale. You’ll always have something that goes with the dress and can take advantage of sales.

Shoes: open toe / heeled sandals in nude, black, gold and silver. The shoes I bought are no longer sold, but the newer version of BP shoes are, and are only $60!
Purse / clutch: nude, black, gold, silver. I found the best deals at the Kate Spade Outlet Store when they were having a sale and got a sparkly clutch for $50.
Jewelry: invest in nice pieces that will go with anything such as diamond studs or get a few pieces of classic costume jewelry.

Save Money By Not Bringing A Wedding Guest To The Wedding

If you have a significant other it is nice to attend weddings together. But, this also increases the cost. At minimum, you have to give a gift for two people instead of just yourself. This will save you $50- $150 depending on how much you gift the bride and groom. If you have to fly, this easily adds another couple hundred dollars there as well.

Save Money On The Wedding Gift

How much should you spend on a wedding gift? Give what you can afford, but spend at least $50 per person. The Knot outlines proper wedding gift etiquette here. In the estimations above, I used $150 which is the high end etiquette for a close friend and low estimate for an urbanite.

Skip The Wedding All Together

As mentioned in the beginning, attending a wedding is expensive. If you can’t afford to attend a wedding don’t go. Saving money as a wedding guest sometimes entails saying no. Weddings are expensive for the bride and groom too, so if you feel bad remember how much it costs the bride and groom per plate. Attending weddings are not worth going into debt for. Studies also show that 40% of Americans can’t cover a $400 emergency expense. Don’t be that person that can’t cover a $400 emergency expense because you spent too much money attending weddings. Saving money as a wedding guest isn’t always easy, true friends will understand if you’re unable to make the wedding due to cost.

What other ways have you saved money as a wedding guest?