I am 28 years old, have no debt, a small 403(b) from my previous job and want to start investing for my retirement. I budget my money fairly well, have an emergency fund, own my car, and have about $25,000 in savings. I've been too scared to invest my money and just slowly saving instead, but realize how dumb that is so I'm ready to take the plunge.
My new job only offers financial planners that charge crazy high fees, so I'm venturing out on my own. I went and met with a planner at Charles Schwab, and while they were very nice they basically leave it all up to you. This has left me totally overwhelmed. I have enough money saved and want to sort of "jump start" my retirement savings.
My new employer does not accept Vanguard, where I have a 403(b) worth ~$2,700. Does it make sense to cash this out, put it towards a Roth IRA plus another $2,800 to max it out for the 2016 tax year? I'm a bit terrified of committing $5,500 all at once, but only have a few weeks before taxes are due and no longer have this option.
I am also trying to figure out what else to invest in for retirement. If I maxed out 2016's IRA contribution I would then start contributing towards 2017's with the goal of maxing that out by the end of the year as well. Beyond that, what should I be looking into? The planner at Schwab showed me some ETF's and Mutual Funds, and I also like the idea of target index funds but heard that these give you very little control and should be avoided.
Any help or advice at all would be greatly appreciated! I just want to be smart and not put a bunch of my money into something now, only to regret it later, thank you!!
Submitted March 15, 2017 at 05:52PM by needsomedollaradvice http://ift.tt/2muFffR
