My original plan included snowballs of $665/mo. I will borrow $100/mo instead and transfer it to an IRA. I know that's only $1200 out of the possible $5500 contribution, but it's all I can do for now. I haven't started figuring out where the $1000 opening balance will come from, but that's in my to-do list.Sad note: I am already very behind my moving goal as it stands. I am $400 (plus a car) short from moving in March 2015. I'll need to address this at mid year.
I really really appreciate your feedback on my previous post about IRAs, it really helped guide my thoughts My next move is to pay taxes ($1200), repay car fund that was used to pay my parents' car ($2000), then work on the remaining debts using the Avalanche method. I want to pay as little interest as possible, and 3 of my 5 student loans have a 5-6 interest rate.
I really, really need to find a more consistent way to increase my income. On that front, my part time job is picking up now, so I've worked these past 2 Saturdays and I am scheduled for next Saturday as well. Woo hoo! Only $60~$80 a night after taxes (wow, that sounds extremely small once you actually write it down...), but it's something.
Now off to check Charles Schwab (thanks, Hawaii Planner and Money Matters for the suggestion!). I'll post my findings once I'm done researching firms, in case anyone else is curious.
Right now we have opted to aggressively pay off our debt because of the interest rates and also because I really want to be debt free in a year. Now that being said we are contributing to our 401ks and 403bs but only up to the amount that our employers match.
ReplyDeleteEverything else we are throwing at our debt. But that is us and we are in our 40's so much older than you. We figure if we get rid of all the debt this year then we can just start bulking out the money going into 2014. We do have some stock that we purchased or were given as gifts years ago and although I sold a few years of one of them last year I am not selling them this year.
If only you were in Philly one of my friends husband is looking for someone to work at his shop on the weekend(he owns a candy store) and is paying 13.00 an hour which is probably less then you are getting but he is good to his employees. He buys lunch for them every week and they all get 1 pound of candy or nuts to take with them sat and sunday. And its a 9 hour shift. I have often worked there to pick pick up extra money if it fell witin my schedule.
Ok don't rambling and lecturing. The tylenol pm has worn off but not I have to go to bed
It's more than my part time job's pay! I'd love to work at a candy shop, haha. Too bad the commute would kill me. If I could find something like that within an hour's drive, I'd totally jump on it.
DeleteAs much as I like investing, I think I would aggressively pay off debt in your situation. It would decrease your indebtedness (obviously this is the main benefit) but also increase your cash flow. I think you need to be free of debt more than you need an account that may or may not appreciate in the short term.
ReplyDeleteThen again, I see that you are not looking to open a large IRA. If it makes you feel good to get started, then go for it. It will be a financial self-esteem boost to see that account established (and it is a little bit of security - the contributions can be withdrawn without penalty -not the gain on them, but just the contributions - if you really have to, in the near future.)
DeleteI didn't know you could withdraw without a penalty. I'll have to research that as well. Though a silver lining to that was that some Roth IRAs do allow you to withdraw early for certain qualifying situations, like getting a max of $10k for a first-house down payment. That feature was very enticing to me.
DeleteI agree that you should pay off the debt. You're doing the Dave Ramsey thing. You have your little e-fund that will help you through things, until your debt is gone, at which point you can start saving more and funding your retirement accounts. I would say at least wait until you're consumer debt free to start funding retirement accounts. Just my thought.
DeleteMy daughter uses Betterment.com. For her, it's perfect. She's just getting started and can only invest small amounts at a time. I think they have Roths and traditional IRA accounts.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was your age (whatever age that is)I put whatever I could into my RRSP. It wasn't much but it was something. Years later I was able to withdraw that $$ and use it as a downpayment for a condo. I was a single mother living on one income and could never have bought a house otherwise. I had to pay that money back to my RRSP but they gave me 17 years to do it. And I did, along with whatever else I could throw in there. The point? Every penny DOES help. Even though I live in a country that no longer uses the PENNY!!
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