Is it wise to put into 401 K right now?

Must be nice....my company doesn't match at all, that's why I'm trying desperately to get out of here. Going in for a second interview with a company on Tuesday

Pugs

 

damn, that's nice. looks like it's too late to sign up unless you're a missouri or arkansas resident. they used to be nationwide. boo.

 

That's a sweet deal, especially for a physical bank rather than an online only.

My employer matches 50% of your first 10%, so naturally I put in 10%.

 

If you're wanting a high interest banking account, here's a good place to look.

Here's some info if you want to read up on checking account rewards.

Pugs

 

Here's a question. My current job doesn't offer me a 401k (I'm a contractor). At tax time, though, I realized I still had (a tiny amount of) money in an old 401k from a previous short-term job that I'd completely forgotten about. With nobody to match my contributions, is it worth putting money into this 401k now? Or should I just forget about it and start a retirement savings account or something instead?

 

I would roll the 401k over into an IRA. I have an IRA, and I also use the Fidelity Retirement Rewards American Express card, which automatically puts 2% of my purchases into the IRA. The big question will be....Traditional or Roth? I would do a Roth, just so you don't have to worry about tax in the future.

Pugs

 

Yes.

Just put your money in Treasuries if you're scared.

 

I probably could have retired by now if I didn't put so much money into Treasures.

 

At least you're contributing to someone's retirement fund.

 

Even better time to sock money into a Roth.

 

putting my eggs in the TRS basket.

 

If you're worried about the economy or don't want to participate in the market, contribute up to the match or just contribute to contribute and allocate it to the money market fund. All 401ks have to have one. It's free money and tax deferral.

 

You're being ignorant, not naive . . . but anyways.

Money market is a cash equivalent account that usually pays interest. chances are now, the money market in your 401k is paying .01-.25%, if anything. It is essentially a savings account to you.

 

I think a lot of people are leaving out the fact that you are making money putting it into a 401K because you aren't paying taxes on it right now.

That being said, we have personally found that a Roth 401K made more sense for us and my wife's company offers that as an option. So I have a traditional 401K and she has a Roth 401K.

 

My Treasuries did pretty well during the financial crisis.

 

First you have to roll the 401(k) into an IRA. You can't make contributions to a former employer's 401(k).

Assuming what you want in annually is less than $5,000, than a traditional IRA is what you want to move that money into.

If you want to do a Roth (Pay taxes now, none when you withdraw) you can set it up separate. If you want to roll the 401(k) into a Roth, you would have to pay the taxes on the change since you would be transferring from a tax deferred account. You can't pay the taxes from the 401(k) without penalty, so if you want to go that route, you will need to have the money for the taxes on hand.

You have several more options beyond that, but wanted to keep it simple. If you have a CPA, ask him. If you only have a financial adviser, save your time, he is going to say Roth without knowing if the decision is right for you or not.

 

Putting your money in Treasuries is usually better than putting it into treasures.

 

Hahaha, I missed the typo

 

I really don't think that is fair at all. Why would an advisor just say that? Compensation is no different.