Although many people invest money, the most successful investors often have a plan. In order to build wealth and meet your financial goals you need to have to clarify your investment strategy and decisions. Use the 5 steps below to map out an investing plan.
Step 1: Write down what you are investing for. Most people invest money with the hopes to make a profit. While this makes logical sense, you need to get more specific. In order to set up an investment plan you must first clarify why you are seeking to make more money. Are you trying to build wealth and retire early? Is your goal to increase your net worth or pay down your student loans? Do you want to stack money to buy home or finance your kid’s college education? Whether you have one goal or many different ones, the first step to crafting an investing plan is to write down your financial goals. What are the various reasons you plan to invest money?
Step 2: Determine how much money you plan to invest. Now that you have a list of the reasons you are investing, figure out how much money you want to allot to your goals. This should not be the first random number that comes to mind or a goal you plan to achieve some time in the distant future. This should be a concrete and realistic number, something you can start doing with your next paycheck. Take a look at your monthly spending and your monthly income. Pinpoint areas where you can cut back and write down a total amount you can use to invest each month or each year. Once you have the total amount you plan to invest, figure out which portion of that total you want to use for each of your investing goals. Perhaps you have $400 to invest each month and decide to use 75% of it to build wealth and 25% to save for a down payment on your future home. Or, maybe you carve out a special 10% of the total amount to start investing money for your kid’s education? The amount you invest is up to you, but come up with a number.
Step 3: Create a timeline for when you need the money (and the profits). Once you make your investing goals and figure out how much money you can use, the next step is to create a timeline for when you need your money and the profits. How soon you need to use the money affects what types of investments you can make. If you know you will need money to buy a home in a couple years then you will likely make much different investments and take much less risk than if you are investing money for your kids college over the next 10 years or planning to build wealth over the next 20 years. What is the timeline for each of your investing goals?
Step 4: Figure out the investments you want to make. If you know what your investment goals are, how much you can invest, and when you need the money the next step in your investment plan is to figure out what type of investments you want to make. You can choose to invest in bonds, stocks, cryptocurrency, real estate, fine art, startup businesses, etc. The choice is yours. However, it’s wise to remember that different types of investments have different levels of risk and different degrees of profit. For example, buying an individual stock or investing in a startup may have the potential to make a lot of money but those types of investments can also come with a high level of risk since there is a chance you could lose all of your money if the company tanks or the stock goes down in value. Investing in bonds gives you a guaranteed return on your money but that return may be so small that it barely keeps up with inflation and doesn’t allow you to meet your investment goals by your designated timeline. Other people choose to invest in real estate in an effort to increase their cash flow and decrease their taxes but take on a great deal of debt (in the form of a mortgage to do so). Most people who are new to the world of investing purchase index mutual funds (large funds that are full of hundreds, if not thousands of different stocks, from many companies in a variety of industries). They invest in these index mutual funds to increase diversification and minimize risk while still leaving room for a decent profit. The choice of investment is yours.
Step 5: Pick the right investment account. The last step of your investing plan is to invest money through the correct account. Many young professionals like to use apps like Robinhood to invest for simplicity and convenience’s sake. However, there may be other types of accounts that could provide more benefits. For example, if you are building wealth for your future and trying to invest for retirement, then using your employer-sponsored 401K or 403b may be a good option. If you want to open an investment account that is not tied to your employer and still desire the ability to take your contributions out of the account at any time, then opening a Roth IRA may be the right option. The type of account you invest in (whether it’s a 401K, Roth IRA, or taxable brokerage account like the Robinhood app or a traditional brokerage firm like Vanguard) depends heavily on your investment goals, timeline and risk tolerance.
My point? Everyone should have a goal to invest money on a consistent basis. If you haven’t already, use the 5 steps above to craft and investment plan that meets your needs and allows you to reach your goals.
What to do with work retirement accounts when you change jobs?
Many money savvy young professionals utilize retirement accounts to invest money and minimize their yearly tax bill. While doing so is great for wealth creation, many people are unsure of what to do when they change jobs. Maybe you’ve wondered the same thing? Perhaps you’ve contributed 5-10% of your salary to your work retirement plan and now find yourself in the transition period about to work for a new employer. While you are excited about the new job, maybe you wonder what to do with the retirement account you had at your old job. Here are 5 options to consider:
Option 1: Leave it where it is. If you like the retirement plan options at your old job and the fees are low just let the money stay there and continue to grow. Unless your old employer demands that you move it, you can likely just the money you contributed in that same account. Although you can’t continue to contribute to that particular work-sponsored account if you no longer work there, you can let the money you already invested keep building over time. You can start withdrawing the money from that account at age 59.5 without incurring any early withdraw penalties but you must start withdrawing it by age 72. If you like the investment options offered by your employer, such as standard low-cost index mutual funds, then keeping the money where it is may be a good option.
Option 2: Roll it into your new job’s retirement plan. This may be a good option if you’re not particularly thrilled with the 401K options at your old employer and like the retirement plan investment options at your new job better. It may also be a good idea if you don’t want to keep track of multiple different 401Ks (or 403b’s) and would prefer to have them all at the same place. If you want to rollover the money into your new job’s retirement plan you simply contact the custodian or manager of the 401K (or 403b) plans at your old job and let them know you want to rollover the funds into the 401K (or 403b) at your new job. This a direct transfer. All you have to do is fill out some paperwork. (Some jobs may make you wait until you’ve been at the new job for a certain length of time before they let you do the rollover so contact your new job and ask). Since the money is going from one pre-tax retirement plan (at your old job) to another pre-tax retirement plan (at your new job) you won’t owe any taxes. You are simply combining 2 accounts into one. If you don’t want to do a direct transfer, you can also have the person in charge of your job’s 401K write you a check for the money and you can then deposit that check into your new job’s 401K yourself. (By law, you must make the deposit within 60 days.)
Option 3: Put the money in a traditional IRA. With this option, you call a brokerage firm like Fidelity, Vanguard, etc and let them know you want to open an individual retirement account (I.R.A) or tell them that you want to roll money from your old job’s retirement plan into your existing IRA. Putting the money into a traditional IRA may be an option for people who may not have good retirement plan options at their new job or want a bit more control over their investment plan options. The biggest advantage of opening an IRA this is that you now will have control of your retirement account and it won’t be controlled by your employer. With this control you can invest in whatever you want, whether that’s individual stocks or various mutual funds you find appealing. You also do not have pay any extra money in taxes when you transfer the funds. Through a self-directed IRA, which is a traditional IRA that you have control over, you can even invest in things like real estate, art, business partnerships, and precious metals. The downside of putting the money in a traditional IRA is that you will now be excluded from using the backdoor Roth IRA method which allows high income earners to put money into Roth IRA accounts each year.
Option 4: Convert it to a Roth IRA. Choosing to convert your work 401K (or 403b) into a Roth IRA is different from putting the money into a traditional IRA. Unlike a traditional IRA, which you contribute to with pre-tax dollars, you contribute to a Roth IRA with post-tax dollars. In other words, you contribute to a Roth IRA after taxes have already been taken out of your check and you never have to pay taxes on that money again. Why does this matter? Because with a Roth IRA you can invest in a way that allows your money to make even more money over time and you never have to pay taxes on the profits. Plus, you can take your contributions out of the Roth IRA at any time without any penalties which means it can serve as an extra emergency fund. In order to convert the money in your 401K (where you made contributions with pre-tax dollars) into a Roth IRA (which you contribute to with post tax dollars), you have to pay taxes on that money. For example, if you have $10,000 in your work 401K, and your marginal tax rate is 25%, then converting your 401K to a Roth IRA will increase the amount of taxes you owe by $10,000 x .25 = $2,500. This may seem like a lot of money now, but when you take the money out in retirement you may be paying an even higher amount in taxes since the overall amount in the amount will have grown over time. Before you decide what to do, see how much money you have in your 401K and calculate the taxes you’d have to pay if you converted it to a Roth IRA. If you can handle the increase in taxes, then converting it to a Roth IRA may be worth it.
Option 5: Cash it out. Technically speaking, you can cash out your 401K at your old job and have them write you a check for you to spend on whatever you want. This may be something to consider if you need the money to buy a home, pay off debt, or use for some other reason. While it may be nice to get an influx of cash, understand that the amount you get may be much less than you think. Since you did not have to pay taxes on money that went into the 401K, if you decide to cash it out, you will have to pay taxes on that money. Plus, if you are under age 55, you will also incur a 10% early withdrawal penalty. For example, if you have $15,000 in your work 401K and you want to cash it out, realize you will not get a $15,000 check. If your marginal tax rate is say 22% and you are under age 55, then you will only get a check for around $10,000 (only 2/3 of the money you had in the account) once you account for taxes and the early withdrawal penalty.
My point? You have 5 options of what to do with your 401K (or 403b) when you change jobs. In order to avoid paying a lot in taxes, some people tend to leave the money where it is or roll it into their new job’s 401K. If they can afford the taxes, then they may try to convert it to a Roth IRA to save themselves money in taxes later in life. Other options are to put it into a traditional IRA or cash it out. The choice is yours.
Dispelling Myths about Building Wealth Through Retirement Accounts
Many people should prioritize using retirement accounts to build wealth even if they don’t plan to stop working any time soon. The benefits of these accounts are too good to pass up. If you’re still skeptical of using retirement accounts, let me clarify some common critiques:
Critique #1: With retirement accounts you are limited to what you can invest in
Truth #1: Anyone can open an individual retirement account (IRA) and invest in almost anything they’d like. With a self-directed IRA, you can even invest in cryptocurrency and real estate. The few limitations that do exist are in work-sponsored retirement accounts because in those types of retirement accounts people can only invest in the funds that are offered through their employer. This means it is highly unlikely you’ll be able to buy shares of bitcoin through your work 401K or 403b. However, most jobs offer a variety of index funds and mutual funds that you can invest in.
Many jobs also offer target-date retirement funds (or lifecycle funds) which put your investing on autopilot. Index funds in these target date retirement funds offer a return of about 8-10% each year on your money which is more than you’d get from most actively managed mutual funds on wall street. My point? Most people have very good investment options inside of retirement accounts.
Critique #2: There’s a limit to how much you can invest
Truth #2: This is actually true. Contributing to retirement accounts offers various tax and asset protection benefits. It makes sense that the government would try to limit how much of those benefits each person can take advantage of each year. That being said, you can still invest thousands of dollars per year in these accounts before you hit the annual limit.
With your work-sponsored retirement accounts, you can contribute up to $19,000 per year. With a traditional IRA or Roth IRA, you can contribute another $6,000 per year. If you are self-employed or work as an independent contractor, you can open your own retirement account and put up to 20% of your income (up to a max of $58,000) per year. Some people even have access to another pre-tax retirement account called a 457b that allows them to contribute even more money. My point? Although there is a limit to how much you can invest in retirement accounts, that yearly limit is quite high and most people have access to more than one type of retirement account.
Critique #3: You can’t take the money out when you want to
Truth #3: The purpose of retirement accounts is to invest money for retirement. The government gives you tax and asset protection benefits to do so. If you take the money out of the account before you retire there is a penalty. So no, you can’t investment money in retirement accounts, make a profit, then withdraw the money to take a fancy international vacation or buy a new car. The money must be used for retirement. That being said, the government understands that there are many reasons you may need the money you invested before retirement. In fact, there are a list of qualified expenses for which you can withdraw money from retirement accounts.
For example, if you are over the age of 59.5, have unreimbursed health care expenses over a certain amount, want to buy your first home, need the money for education expenses, or get disabled, you can withdraw a certain amount from your retirement account. If you want to use the money for another reason you can also “borrow” from your 401K. When you borrow from your 401K you can withdraw money from the account (up to $100,000 or 50% of the amount you have invested, whichever is less) but you have to pay it back within 5 years with interest. My point? Retirement accounts must be used for retirement but there are a list of reasons for which you can withdraw money from these accounts sooner without any penalty. If you want to use the money for something else, you can borrow money from this account as long as you pay the money back within the repayment period.
Critique #4: You can’t use the money if you retire early
Truth #4: This is not true. Many people have the desire to invest as much as they can as early as they can. They want to build wealth faster and retire at an early age. However, if they retire before age 59.5, they wonder how they will get access to their retirement money without having to pay a penalty. As mentioned above, there are lots of exceptions to the retirement account withdrawal rule like buying your first home or paying back high health care expenses.
If you can’t find an early withdrawal exception that applies to you, you can use the substantially equal periodic payment (S.E.P.P.) exemption. With this exemption, you can use IRS formulas to take out an equal amount of money from your retirement account each year based on the number of years they estimate you have left to live. You must take out the same amount for at least 5 years or until you turn age 59.5, whichever is longer. My point? The government realizes you may want to retire early (before age 59.5) so it created an exemption to allow you take out money from your retirement account for this purpose.
What do you think? Will you use retirement accounts to build wealth?
Want to invest and build wealth sooner? Use Retirement Accounts
In the last few years there has been increased interest in investing. People from all over the world have downloaded apps like Robinhood to purchase stock in various companies. Some have even used the app to put money in alternative investments like cryptocurrency. Although this desire to build wealth is well-intentioned, there may be a better way to reach this goal: Retirement accounts.
Before you roll your eyes and write me off, hear me out (or I guess read me out). Retirement accounts aren’t just for middle aged and older adults who want to stop working in the next few years. Retirement accounts are useful for everyone. Although the original purpose was to help people invest money to use when they reached their 60s and 70s, retirement accounts can be extremely useful to you now, even in your 20s and 30s. The benefits you get by using retirement accounts can help you build wealth much more efficiently. You should consider using retirement accounts to invest money and become financially independent for the following reasons:
Using retirement accounts allows you to keep more of your profits– since you pay much less in taxes. Apps like Robinhood are considered taxable accounts. The money you use to invest is taxed, the profits you make are taxed, and the revenue you get after you cash out the investment is taxed. That’s 3 types of taxes! When you invest through retirement accounts you don’t pay nearly as much in taxes. Some retirement accounts like a 401K or 403b are tax-deferred. This means you delay paying any taxes until decades later when you take the money out. With other retirement accounts like a Roth IRA, you invest with money you earned and never have to pay taxes on the profit you make. Plus, you can take out the money you contributed at any time tax-free. My point? Using retirement accounts helps you save money because you pay less in taxes.
Using retirement accounts may help you get extra “free” money to invest – since you may get a contribution “match” from your job. Another perk of using retirement accounts to build wealth is that you usually get to invest more money. Retirement accounts are usually offered through your employer in the form of a 401K, 403b, or 457. As part of a benefits package at your job, your employer may offer a retirement account “match.” This is when the job gives you extra money, in addition to your salary, to invest in a retirement account. The amount they give you usually matches the percentage of your salary you choose to invest in retirement accounts. If you invest 5% of your salary, they will “match” your contribution with an additional 5% to put in your retirement account. With this match your job is giving you extra free money to invest with. Why not take advantage of this offer?
Using retirement accounts can lower your taxable income – which can decrease your student loan payments. Most of the retirement accounts offered through your job (like a 401K, 403b, or 457) are tax deferred. Since the money is tax-deferred, you don’t have to pay taxes on it until you take the money out years later. This means the more money you contribute to retirement accounts, the less money you owe when you file your taxes each year. It could even increase the amount of your tax refund. Since contributing to retirement accounts lowers your taxable income, it also lowers any income-based repayments that are tied to your income – like your federal student loans. The more money you contribute to tax-deferred retirement accounts, the lower your taxable income and the lower your federal student loan payments. Although interest will still accrue on your loans, this may be a good benefit for anyone currently enrolled in a student loan forgiveness program.
Using retirement accounts can help you invest on a more consistent basis – since contributions are connected to your paycheck. If you are a person seeking to invest more money to build your net worth and eventually have enough money to quit your job, pay for your kids’ college, pay off your home, or travel the world, you have to invest. You can’t merely save your way to wealth. Your money needs to make more money and grow. The only thing better than investing your money is doing so on a consistent basis. Year after year, month after month, make investing a habit. Make it routine. Make it automatic. One way to do that is to take advantage of an investment account that is already set up to help you make consistent investments – your work 401K. For some people it may be called a 403b or a 457 or perhaps they are self-employed and have an IRA or solo 401K. Either way, you have retirement accounts at your disposable and these accounts are set up to help you invest on consistent basis every time you get paid.
Using retirement accounts gives you more asset protection – since money in these accounts is protected from your creditors. Sometimes unexpected things happen in life. If for some reason you were sued, owed someone a lot of money, or happen to file for bankruptcy, your creditors could garnish your assets and take any money you have in banking accounts or in a taxable account like Robinhood. That is not the case when it comes to most retirement accounts. Retirement accounts offered through your job (like a 401K or 403b) offer much more asset protection because they are protected under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). This means your creditors cannot take the money you have in your work 401K to pay off your debts. If you are named in a lawsuit, the person suing you cannot go after the money you have in your 401K.
My point? As you start investing, prioritize using retirement accounts. When you use retirement accounts you get better asset protection and more money from your employer. You also pay less in taxes, keep more of your profits, and can invest on a more consistent basis.
Want to Invest Money for Your Child? Consider a Custodial Account
Many parents want to set their kids up for financial success. One of the best ways to do that is to invest money on their behalf. Although there are many different investment accounts to choose from, consider opening a custodial account for your child.
What is a custodial account?
A custodial account is a type of account you can open to invest money on your child’s behalf. Technically speaking, there are two main types: A UGMA (Uniform Gift to Minors Act) and a UTMA (Uniform Transfer to Minors Act). With a UGMA, you can invest money in securities like stocks and bonds on their behalf. With a UTMA, you can invest in securities like stocks and bonds along with additional things like real estate or even put tangible assets like properties and businesses in your child’s name. A UTMA allows you to do everything that UGMA does, plus more. (UTMA’s are not offered in every state so some people are limited to a UGMA).
How does it work?
You call up a financial institution, like Fidelity, Vanguard, TD Ameritrade, etc, and let them know you want to open a custodial account for your child. The account will be in your child’s name and you will be the “custodian” or the person controlling the account. You then put as much money as you want into the account as often as you’d like to invest. Once your child hits the legal age of maturity (which ranges from age 18-21, depending on the state) they get all the money in the account. Some states like Florida, give you the option to delay the age in which your child gets the money until age 25, if you want.
What are the advantages?
It allows you to invest money for your child. By investing money, instead of merely saving it, you will be able to stack up more money for your child over time. If you saved $25 a month for your child starting from the time they were 5 years old, by the time he or she turned 21 you would have stacked $4,800. However, if you had instead invested that money (in index mutual funds which make an average of 10% per year) by the time your child turned 21, he or she would have $10,780. That is more than double what you would have if you only put the money in a savings account!
It provides more flexibility than other investment accounts. Unlike other investment accounts that you can open for your child (like a 529 account or a Roth IRA), with custodial accounts there is no rule on what your child can or cannot spend the money on. If they decide to go to college, they can use it for college. If they want to open a business, they can use it for that. If they want to spend ½ of it to buy a home and the other ½ to pay for their wedding or fund a travel experience overseas they can do that too. It’s your child’s money to do as he or she wishes.
There is no contribution limit. With a custodial account there is no income limit on who can and cannot contribute to the account (like there is with an Educational Savings Account) and there also is no limit to how much or how little you can put into the account each year (like there is with a Roth IRA). It doesn’t matter if you are rich, poor, or somewhere in between, anyone can contribute any amount of money to a custodial account as frequently or infrequently as they want on behalf of their child. Contributions over $15,000 per year will trigger the federal gift tax, but technically speaking you can put as much money in the account as you want. That is not the case with some of the other investment accounts.
What are the drawbacks?
Like almost any type of account, there are things to be cautious of if you decide to open a custodial account on behalf of your child:
The money is your child’s to keep and you can’t take it back. If you are in a financial bind and need money for an unexpected car repair or to repay debt, you cannot withdraw money from the custodial account to do so. When you contribute money to the account you are legally giving the money to your child. This means you cannot take the money back later if you want to. It belongs to your child.
Your child can spend the money on whatever he/she wants. Once your child hits the legal age of maturity, it is their money to spend how they want. While this gives them lots of flexibility, it can be problematic without the right discipline. You may want your child to spend the money on college expenses or a home down payment but he or she may instead choose to spend the money on a fancy car, blow the money on drugs and clubs, or lose it all gambling.
You have to report it on your tax forms and any financial aid forms for school. Since it’s an investment account that makes money, technically speaking, your child must pay taxes on the profit made from investing in the account. Any profits made in excess of $2100 per year is taxed at your (the parent’s) income tax rate. You can choose to pay taxes on your child’s behalf. You can also minimize any taxes owed by investing in low-cost index funds and simply waiting until your child reaches the legal age of maturity to sell any investments. However, if your child goes to college, he or she will have to report any assets they have (including money in this custodial account) to the school which may decrease how much financial aid he or she is eligible for.
Given the drawbacks is it still useful?
Many people think so, but that’s a personal decision that you have to make for yourself. If you know your child will blow the money on drugs and parties then perhaps a custodial account isn’t the best place to invest the money. If you aren’t sure if your child will go to college or anticipate they may need money to pay for a wedding, buy a car, or start a business in the future, then perhaps a custodial account is a good place to invest money.
If you invest money in a custodial account then realize that your child wants to go to college (or think they may be irresponsible with the money in the custodial account) you can use the money to pay for college directly or transfer money from the custodial account into a 529 college account in their name. My point? Custodial accounts can be useful and you can invest in them in addition to other investment accounts like a 529 college savings account or a Roth IRA.
Tell me, would you consider opening a custodial account for your child?
The 5 Index Funds in my Investment Portfolio
Unlike many investors, I don’t buy or trade individual stocks. I explain in detail why I’ve bypassed this new trend in a previous blog, but the main reason I don’t buy or trade individual stocks is because the price of stocks changes too quickly. It’s hard to predict if a stock will go up or down. Since stock prices are so volatile (and change so often) there is an increased risk that I might lose money. My goal is to invest in a way that increases the chance I’ll make a profit but has a low risk that I may lose money. The main way I maximize profit and minimize risk is by investing in index funds.
Index funds are groups of many different stocks that follow a certain index. For example, one index fund may follow the S & P 500 index and purchase hundreds of stocks from American companies. Another index fund may be filled with thousands of stocks from all around the world. There are many different choices. When you purchase an index fund you are buying a fund that has purchased a percentage of all the stocks in that index. By purchasing a percentage of hundreds or thousands of stocks, you have better diversification in your investment portfolio with much lower risk of losing money.
There are many different choices of index funds to choose from. I have accounts at Vanguard and Fidelity (which are two of many different types of brokerage firms). Through these companies I have chosen 5 main index funds:
1. Total Stock Market Index Fund I invest in this fund at Vanguard through my employer-sponsored retirement account at work (called a 403b which is very similar to a 401K). I also invest in this fund through my Roth IRA at Fidelity. This index fund has a portion of over 3,600 stocks from small, medium, and large sized American companies. With this fund, I own a portion of all the stocks in the United States. The greatest percentage of money in this fund is invested in Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Tesla. It also has much smaller percentages of thousands of other companies. Altogether, this fund has made over 20% in profit over the last year and 15% in profit over the last 5 years.
2. Total International Stock Market Index I also invest in this fund at Vanguard through my 403b and through my Roth IRA at Fidelity. Unlike the previous index fund, this particular fund has over 7,000 stocks from all over the world. 38% of these stocks are from European countries. 24% of these stocks are from emerging markets in developing countries. 26% are from countries in the pacific and about 6% are from countries in North America. This fund has made over 11% in profit over the last 5 years.
3. Total Bond Market Index Fund I invest in this fund at Vanguard through my work 403b. This fund buys almost all of the bonds in the United States. Since these are bonds, there is much less risk that I will lose money but because of this extra caution, the returns aren’t as great. This fund has over 10,000 bonds with 63% of them being US Government bonds. It has made a return of about 5% over the last 5 years.
4. Total International Bond Market Index Fund I invest in this fund at Vanguard through my work 403b. This fund buys bonds from all around the world. This fund has over 6,000 bonds with over 57% of them from Europe. It has made a return of about 4% annually over the last 5 years.
5. Real Estate Index Fund I invest in this fund through my Roth IRA at Fidelity. This fund is filled with lots of smaller real estate funds that are full of many smaller real estate deals. I chose to invest in this fund in an effort to add some real estate investments to my portfolio. Over the last 5 years, this fund has had an average annual profit of 5%..
Overall, about 20% of my money is in real estate index funds, 5% in bond index funds, and 75% is in stock index funds. What is the makeup of your investment portfolio? Are you using index funds?
4 Steps to Balance Investments in your 403b (or 401K) and your Roth IRA
Last year, I prioritized contributing to my 403b. Nowadays, I use the income from some of my side gigs and other jobs to contribute to a Roth IRA as well. If you are considering doing the same thing (by contributing to your employer-sponsored retirement plan and your own Roth IRA), here are a few steps you can follow:
Step 1: Have a plan for all your retirement investing. My investment portfolio is overwhelmingly filled with stocks. As someone who is [relatively] young with plenty of work years ahead of me, I’m decades away from retirement. Since I won’t retire for a while, I can include a high percentage of stocks and take more risks with my investments. By taking more risk, I increase my chances of making a profit on my money. Even if I “lose” money intermittently by taking so much risk, I have plenty of years to make up the losses, if they occur.
The percentage of stocks you have in your investment portfolio may be different. There are various investment allocations for people of all ages and stages of life with various risk tolerances. Some younger people choose to only invest in stocks, some choose to invest in stocks and bonds, and others like to have some real estate, commodities, or other alternative options. I’ve decided on a retirement investment allocation that fits me best: 75% in stocks, 15% in real estate, and 10% in bonds.
Step 2: Determine the type and percentage of investments to add to the Roth IRA. Now that I know what percentage of my retirement portfolio I want to allocate to each category, my next step is to determine which investments and how much of each investment I need to add to my Roth. Because I already have some of my investments in my main job’s retirement plan, I now need to add the remaining investments to my Roth IRA. When adding the remaining investments to my Roth IRA, I must make sure that the total value of all of my retirement investments remains at my desired allocation of 75% stocks, 15% real estate, and 10% bonds.
In my main job’s retirement account, I am invested in a target retirement index fund that invests my money in 90% stocks and 10% bonds. This means I need to add real estate index funds to my Roth IRA and also invest in some stocks and bonds in my Roth IRA to maintain my desired investment percentage. (Side note, although I plan to invest in actual real estate through the purchase of apartment buildings and multifamily homes, I like my retirement real estate investments to be in REITs aka Real Estate Investment Trusts - which are like giant real estate index funds that invest in many different properties). Also, keep in mind that since Roth IRA investments are made with money you already paid taxes on and never have to pay taxes on again, it’s often wise to make sure that you use this Roth account to make investments in things that pay dividends so you can avoid paying taxes on the money you make from those investments.
Step 3: Have the money automatically withdrawn from your account each month. Once I know how much of each investment I want to have in my Roth IRA, I just need to make sure I actually place the money into my Roth account. Although some people like to contribute the max allotment of $6,000 per year at one time to get their money invested sooner rather than later, I invest it in small pieces each month. Doing it in small pieces instead of all at once has two benefits for me.
First, it gives me more flexibility so that I can decrease the allotment one month and make up for it the next month if I need to. Secondly, contributing periodically each month gives me a greater chance of buying stocks at a “discount.” (The prices of stocks and index funds fluctuates. If I buy all of them at one time with by investing one large sum of money in my Roth IRA at once, then I buy all the stocks (or index funds) at the same price. However, if I invest a little each month then I increase my chances of buying stocks (or index funds) when they may be a lower price. Although there is also a chance I could buy the stocks (or index funds) at a higher price, doing it a little bit at a time has been shown to save people more money overall. This is known as “dollar cost averaging”. Each person is different, but I prefer to have the money automatically withdrawn from my account each month and invested into my Roth IRA. (When my salary increases, I’ll likely have the $6,000 taken out over 3 months instead of over the entire year)
Step 4: Adjust the investment percentages periodically. The prices of stocks, bonds, and REITs can fluctuate. Sometimes the prices change by only a small amount and thus stay at around the same price. Other times the prices of the investments can change by a lot and remain at this new level for a few months or even years. For example, when the coronavirus pandemic hit, the price of many stocks decreased and stayed low for a couple months before they started to come back up. When these fluctuations occur, they can change the balance of my retirement investments.
If stocks (or index funds) decrease then that means the value of the stocks in my portfolio have decreased, which means that instead of having 75% of my money in stocks this percentage may decrease to around 70%. In order to get back to my target of 75% I will need to buy even more stocks in the future (increase the percentage of new money I have going towards stocks) to make up this difference. Although different people have different preferences for how often they plan to adjust their investments, I plan to do it once a year.
Tell me, do you have a Roth IRA? If so, how are you investing it?
I invest in a 403b AND a Roth IRA, here's why:
As a young professional who is trying to build wealth, I invest money. Although there are a myriad of different investment accounts and strategies, I invest in index mutual funds through my employer-sponsored retirement plan and through my own Roth IRA. Yes, I have both types of accounts. Let me tell you why.
I invest in my employer-sponsored retirement plan (which is a 403b, that is very similar to a 401K) because:
1. I get a match from my employer to invest in their plan. Back in the day, many jobs offered their employees a “pension” when they retired. This pension would guarantee an employee a certain percentage of their salary even after they retired and stopped working. Although these pension plans were great for the employees, they were extremely expensive for many companies. Thus, most jobs today no longer offer pensions. They instead, want to encourage their employees to save for their own retirement and give them an incentive (in the form of a retirement match) to do so. Through this retirement match, your employer will match what you contribute to your retirement plan. My employer, similar to many other employers, offers a retirement match if I contribute to my work-sponsored retirement account (aka a 403b). Since I don’t want to forgo free money, I contribute to my work retirement plan to get their “match.”
2. It saves me money in taxes. As an unmarried physician with no children, I pay quite a bit in taxes. Although I don’t mind contributing money to ensure that our government can run smoothly and fund things like education, infrastructure, and national defense, there are certain incentives in the tax code that can help reduce the amount of taxes I’m expected to pay. One of the incentives is contributing to a retirement plan. By contributing money to my employer-sponsored retirement plan, I am able to defer paying taxes on the money I contribute which decreases my tax rate. I also have the option of contributing to my work retirement plan via a 403b Roth, in which I can choose to pay taxes now and shield the income and profits from taxes when I withdraw the money later. So, whether I choose the pre-tax 403b (to help me save money in taxes now) or the 403b Roth (to help me save money in taxes later), either way I get to save money in taxes. Thus, either option is a win-win.
3. It decreases my student loan payments. Like many college graduates, I have student loans. In fact, the amount of student loans I acquired from medical school is so high that I had to consolidate my loans and enroll into an income-based repayment plan to make the payments more affordable. This plan, called REPAYE (revised-pay-as-you-earn), caps my student loan payments at 10% of my discretionary income which makes my monthly student loan payments much more affordable. As a resident physician who works for a non-profit hospital, I am also considered a “public servant.” Through a program called Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), after making 10 years of student loan payments, public servants who work for non-profit companies can get the remaining balance of their student loans forgiven, tax-free. Since the student loan payments I need to make are based on my taxable income, the more I lower my taxable income, the less money I have to pay in my student loans. One way I lower my taxable income, and thus lower my monthly student payment, is by contributing to my work-sponsored retirement account.
In addition to my work 403b, I also invest in a Roth IRA because:
1. I can make other types of investments that I can’t make in my employer retirement plan. Unlike my 403b or 401K, a Roth IRA is not set up through my employer. Because it is not connected to my employer, I have more options in the way I want to invest my money. Instead of being limited to certain mutual funds or index funds, I can expand my options. Through my Roth IRA, I invest in REITs (real estate investment trusts). By investing in REITs, I am able to make money via real estate, since these REITs invest in a variety of real estate deals and syndications. Adding real estate to my investments helps diversify my portfolio in a way that can make me even more money overall.
2. It gives me more flexibility whenever I want to withdraw the money One of the things I really like about the Roth IRA, is that because I contribute to it with “after-tax” dollars, there are fewer restrictions on when I can take the money out of the account. Although it is supposed to stay in the account until I retire, I can withdraw my contributions at any time, with no penalty (as long as I keep all the earnings/profits in the account). Thus, if I contributed $5,000 and made $500 in profits, I can take out the $5,000 I contributed at any time as long as the $500 I made in profit stays in the account. This means that if I ever run in to an emergency or decide to use some of the money to pay off student loans or purchase a home, I can withdraw some of the money from this account when I need. A Roth IRA is like a retirement account that I can technically use as a back-up emergency fund if I absolutely needed to.
3. I don’t have to pay taxes on the money in retirement when I take it out. Unlike my employer-sponsored retirement plan, I contributed to this Roth account with after-tax dollars. This means, when I withdraw the money in retirement, I don’t have to pay taxes on the earnings I made or the money I contributed. Because of this fact, a Roth IRA helps me keep more money! For example, if I retire with $1,000,000 in a pre-tax 401K and $1,000,000 in a Roth IRA. I will have to pay 20-30% in taxes on the money in the pre-tax 401K. So even though there is $1 million in the account, I will have to pay $200,000-$300,000 in taxes on that money. With a Roth IRA, I will owe no taxes and will get to keep it all.
4. I can leave all the money in my Roth IRA to my children without them having to pay taxes on it. Another thing I love about the Roth IRA is that I can give it away to my [future] kids. Instead of trying to leave them a separate inheritance, I can simply leave my Roth IRA to my kids and their kids. Doing so, will help the money keep building overtime and allow me to set future generations of my family up for financial success.
My point? Both my employer-sponsored retirement plan and my Roth IRA have advantages. Instead of choosing one over the other, I contribute to both accounts to maximize the benefits. Tell me, do you contribute to your work-sponsored retirement plan AND a Roth IRA?