lets talk investing $$$$

[karl]

so anyway i opened up a cd account at my bank and calculated what it might be worth after 6 months, and ill earn almost $300 on interest
i was looking at the other offers they had, but i didnt have enough to open an account on the next tier
these are my baby steps into thinking ahead, as the saying goes "having the money work for me"
to those who have done this or something like this please share your experience

[oc-audica]

That sounds good to me... being almost 21 with a full time job I'm starting to realize that becoming rich ain't as easy as it seemed during High School.

I am starting off with putting 10% of my checks in the 401k and start from there I guess. I'd also like to hear what more experienced people have to say.

[Paul]

max 401k for matching, roth ira for money you don't need to access, and invest in other short term CD's or stocks if you want to play that.

[DTolo]

I just put money into a "529 plan" for my son's college. He is a year old now. Every time his savings hits $500 we put it into his 529 plan, up to $22k is allowed to be deposited a year.
Next investment of any sort that I can think of will be a house.

[madajb]

so anyway i opened up a cd account at my bank and calculated what it might be worth after 6 months, and ill earn almost $300 on interest

That's a pretty decent interest rate on a 6-month CD
Where'd you get it?

-ajb

[bugzy]

401k matching alwasys is worth it

[karl]

That's a pretty decent interest rate on a 6-month CD
Where'd you get it?

-ajb

i bank with citizens business bank.....1.41% interest on a $3500 deposit

[madajb]

max 401k for matching, roth ira for money you don't need to access,

You should never "access" your 401k investments before retirement.
It defeats the purpose.

-ajb

[madajb]

i bank with citizens business bank.....1.41% interest on a $3500 deposit

And you're getting $300 in interest? How's that work?
Admittedly, I'm bad at math, but that shouldn't work out to more than $25 or $30 over 6 months.

-ajb

[madajb]

401k matching alwasys is worth it

Remember to only contribute to a 401k up to the company matched limit, after that you should be doing a Roth IRA as Paul said.

-ajb

[karl]

yeah im bad a math too, but i was told to multiply the percent to the deposit then add that total to the percentage, i got about $50 a month....someone correct me if im wrong

[madajb]

yeah im bad a math too, but i was told to multiply the percent to the deposit then add that total to the percentage, i got about $50 a month....someone correct me if im wrong

No, that's way off.
Try a CD Calculator.
-ajb

[oc-audica]

hehehehe

about $4 a month...

lol

[karl]

yeah, that was way off.......i was getting all jazzed over nothing
thanks for bursting my bubble

[GTIcrazy]

The best rate that I know of for liquid cash is at ING...3.8% with no minimum...

http://www.ingdirect.com/osa_autorate/

[bugzy]

Can someone post more info on Roth IRA?

[madajb]

Can someone post more info on Roth IRA?

Basically, it's like a regular IRA except that growth is income-tax free and doesn't have minimum distribution rules.
Also, if you make over a certain amount, you can't contribute to a Roth IRA(Around 100k for singles, 150k for married).
You can't deduct your contributions from your taxes either, like you can with a regular IRA.

-ajb

[iibbmm]

Once I get into the office I'll give some information on investing. I'm fairly big into throwing my money at things, so I should be able to give some good advice. I've been contributing to my 401k since I was 18, and have owned stock since 16.

[Tom]

Emigrant Direct offers 4% with no minimums. FDIC insured as well.

www.emigrantdirect.com

[MikekiM]

Basically, it's like a regular IRA except that growth is income-tax free and doesn't have minimum distribution rules.
Also, if you make over a certain amount, you can't contribute to a Roth IRA(Around 100k for singles, 150k for married).
You can't deduct your contributions from your taxes either, like you can with a regular IRA.

The rule of thumb that I recall using back when making the decision on a Roth is..

If you expect your income to go up ocnsiderably by the time you reach retirement, such that you'll be in a higher tax bracket then, it's best to open a Roth now.

You'll pay the income tax now, when you're in a low tax bracket and making only pennies. Then when you retire, and are rolling in big bucks, the IRA distributions will be tax free.