What is the best way to save money for retirement?
My job doesn’t offer a 401(k) but I would really like to start one is it possible to do it independently?
You can invest in an IRA at a mutual fund company. I like Vanguard.com, other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA. Buy no-load, low-expense funds. If you are like most people you will invest part of your money aggressively in stock funds, and part conservatively in money market funds and bond funds. Vanguard has an on-line questionnaire which will give you an idea of how to do "Asset Allocation," determining how much to put in each type of fund.
I like their Target Retirement funds. However, there are many different opinions out there on what the best mutual funds are. Read the links below and form your own opinion.
If you have high-interest debt, like credit cards, it is best to pay this off first before trying most of the investment ideas above.
Believing advice you get on Yahoo answers can be risky, so read these websites for further information. If you find it too confusing, contact a professional financial advisor. They will charge you significant commissions, however.
Sources:
http://www.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation
http://www.fool.com/school.htm
http://sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetallocation.htm
http://www.diehards.org/readsites.htm
http://finance.yahoo.com/education/begin_investing
http://finance.yahoo.com/funds/basics
Asset Allocation Calculators
(Determining how much to put in stocks and how much into bonds and money markets is a personal decision depending on your financial status. These Asset Allocation questionaires give you a rough idea how to do this. I like Vanguard best, but try some of the other sites as well.)
https://personal.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/FundsInvQuestionnaire?cbdInitTransUrl=https%3A//flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation/education
https://ais2.tiaa-cref.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects.exe/DTAssetAlcEval
http://www.ifa.com/SurveyNET/index.aspx
Web forum: http://www.diehards.org/
(Many investment web forums are overrun by scam artists. This one seems the most legitimate site.)
Not a 401(k), but you can and should start an IRA. See http://www.ira.com for details.
References :
It totally is. Companies like Fidelity offer personal 401k type accounts. There are a couple different options you can choose from: Roth IRA, 403b, etc. Check http://www.401k.com and read up on their different types of accounts to see which one is right for you.
It’s important to start saving as early as you can, and never take money out of it until you retire. If you do have a job some day that offers a 401k, you can usually roll over your existing account into the new one at no cost to you.
References :
No, unless you employee 75+ people. The best thing, since you don’t have an employer sponsored plan, would be to start either a Traditional IRA or a Roth. Make sure your employer does not offer a SIMPLE IRA, 403(b), or SEP IRA first.
References :
Saving for retirement is essential. You can open an IRA account into which you can invest pre tax money. You can also open a Roth IRA but it has to be funded with after tax money. However, the gains and income from a Roth are not taxed.
There may be other possibilities, but investing in the two IRAs up to the maximum amount allowed by law will probably be as much as you can handle.
References :
You can invest in an IRA at a mutual fund company. I like Vanguard.com, other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA. Buy no-load, low-expense funds. If you are like most people you will invest part of your money aggressively in stock funds, and part conservatively in money market funds and bond funds. Vanguard has an on-line questionnaire which will give you an idea of how to do "Asset Allocation," determining how much to put in each type of fund.
I like their Target Retirement funds. However, there are many different opinions out there on what the best mutual funds are. Read the links below and form your own opinion.
If you have high-interest debt, like credit cards, it is best to pay this off first before trying most of the investment ideas above.
Believing advice you get on Yahoo answers can be risky, so read these websites for further information. If you find it too confusing, contact a professional financial advisor. They will charge you significant commissions, however.
Sources:
http://www.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation
http://www.fool.com/school.htm
http://sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetallocation.htm
http://www.diehards.org/readsites.htm
http://finance.yahoo.com/education/begin_investing
http://finance.yahoo.com/funds/basics
Asset Allocation Calculators
(Determining how much to put in stocks and how much into bonds and money markets is a personal decision depending on your financial status. These Asset Allocation questionaires give you a rough idea how to do this. I like Vanguard best, but try some of the other sites as well.)
https://personal.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/FundsInvQuestionnaire?cbdInitTransUrl=https%3A//flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation/education
https://ais2.tiaa-cref.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects.exe/DTAssetAlcEval
http://www.ifa.com/SurveyNET/index.aspx
Web forum: http://www.diehards.org/
(Many investment web forums are overrun by scam artists. This one seems the most legitimate site.)
References :
Open an IRA. The contributions limits on IRAs are too low to let you build up a large retirement portfolio, so it’s a good idea to save in taxable accounts in addition to the IRA.
Automate the saving process by having part of your paycheck automatically transferred to the IRA or other account. This deceptively simple process will build up your savings impressively over time.
References :
http://www.uncleleosden.com/Step12RetirementAccounts.html
http://blogger.uncleleosden.com/2007/04/automate-to-accumulate.html