Couple of notes before I begin: I'm not an American, so IRAs and most of the stuff I've read here may not be applicable to me. I'm 22 yo, I just started saving about a year ago, no debt, expense is pretty much just transportation, internet bill, food, and video games (still living with parents, this is a norm in my country). and lastly, I'm about to take another job that pays about 68% less than my current job. (I'm in it for the experience). I don't really have a goal yet in mind for my investments but I just like to save just in case.
So currently, I have a pretty strict budget. 15% goes to a VUL insurance plan (plan is payable for 10yrs, 9 more years to go), 15% goes to a high-risk equity fund (UITF) in my local bank, 15% goes to an emergency fund, 10% goes to medical fund (I really dont know if this is necessary, company provides insurance), about 5% goes to what I call a Fun Fund (video games, clothes) and the rest goes to my savings account after of course all expense deductions. I've maintained this budget since I started about a year ago but now that I'm about to take a less paying job I need to reassess it. Basically my plan is to decrease everything except the VUL insurance and the fund allocated for the equity fund. So here are my questions:
- When I signed my contract for the VUL, I didn't take into account that life insurance isn't really a mandatory for every single person especially for those who are not planning to have a family. I had this mentality back then that I need insurance. Is it still worth continuing? I know that it has an investment linked to it but will it really get that much appreciation say 30yrs from now? and if I cancel the contract can I still get the money I put in a year ago?
- I'm planning to end injecting money to the high-risk equity fund I have after I reach a specific amount this year and probably invest to a moderately-risky fund. Is this like a good move? or is it better if I just take a portion from the current allocated budget for high risk fund and put those in a less risky fund. basically, diversify. Also, the management fee for that fund is like 1.50%, is this normal? this part of my budget will probably become a major retirement fund that's why I chose a high risk fund.
- there's still a couple (about 10% of my net salary) of excess that is going directly to my savings account after all the deductions and I think it's better if I invest it in something. Also, I'm almost at my target in my emergency fund so that'll open some more available money ready for investing. Any recommendations? Investing directly in the stock market is something I've been thinking for a while now but I feel like i don't have yet enough knowledge to get into it. I don't even know which stocks I should get in case I decided to get into it.
- My mind right now is gearing towards a fund for an early retirement, or a house, or tbh I REALLY DONT KNOW and I really have no idea to where I should put my money. Where do people invest their money for their retirement except for the government mandated retirement fund contributions (IRAs, social securities)?
HULP.
Submitted July 28, 2018 at 03:43AM by butterssucks https://ift.tt/2uVG6g3
