Hey Everyone,
So here's my situation: 30 years old, student loans paid off, no real debt (aside for a couple hundred in credit cards I pay off quickly) Currently contributing 11% for my 401k (employer matches 50% up to 8% contributing, it's about 5k in one account and 4k in another I need to roll over) I've been using mint for years now, my budgets seem to be working ok for me so far. I've got $150 directly deposited every month going into an Ally high yield interest account (only 1%...) that currently has $65,017. I also have $140 directly deposited into a bank savings account that's at $4,700 (just a travel savings account) and another "emergency fund" account at $10,600.
So, I know I'm not maximizing this money. I'm pretty good at the saving side, the investing stuff is what gets me a little intimidated. Here are my questions: I've read that after 401k contributing, the first thing I should do is dump money into a Roth IRA. That seems to make sense, but is there any reason I choose that over any other form of investing? Is the 401k not enough for retirement, or is it just because the benefits of having a second retirement account too good to pass up? How much of this 60k should I put in there? I saw what the recession did to my parents so I'm a little gun shy, especially with the market being higher than it's ever been, is this just paranoia, or is this just part of the risk/reward factor of investing?
I'd like to buy a house in maybe 5 years, maybe in the philly area (i don't currently live there, so I'm renting until then). Does it make sense to take 60k and dump it into a Vanguard target date fund, or mutual fund? I guess I'm a little foggy on the investment side. Or should I still put all of that money into a Roth IRA which I can eventually take out (just my contributions of course)? Or split it down the middle?
My plan would be to slide my direct deposit to max out any Roth IRA I open.
I'm kind of beating myself up about starting sooner on this stuff, but I guess it's better to plant a tree now or whatever cliche you want to say. Anyway, any advice would be appreciated. Let me know if there's any clarifications I can give to help out.
Submitted October 21, 2017 at 09:56AM by fcpalez http://ift.tt/2yId5ao
