On Aug 30, 9:17 pm, joetaxpayer <joetaxpa...[at]nospam.com> wrote:
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As always, Joe has rendered sage advice. I would add one thing. If
you're going to multitask your Roth as an emergency fund, I wouldn't
invest in anything volatile. Instead, I'd stick with money markets
until you have enough savings to separate your emergency fund from
your retirement fund. Needing to tap your emergency fund is a
bummer. Doing so at a loss just adds insult to injury.

--Bill

Bill Woessner wrote:
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If you do not have enough money to create both the emergency fund as
well as putting $4K/yr in a Roth, I suggest you go with the Roth, and
both invest it and consider it your emergency fund. If you need to tap
it for a bone fide emergency (actually there is no stipulation to the
purpose as far as IRS is concerned), the amount deposited may be
withdrawn regardless with no penalty. But if you earn your way to a
higher income and have other funds, you didn't miss the chance to save
in the Roth, and perhaps had 2-3 years' deposits saved up.
JOE

On Aug 27, 2:04 am, pod2...[at]yahoo.com wrote:
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I don't understand this. Choose one what? And how are they going to
start contributing? What about other employees? Do they have any
kind of pension?


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You can't establish your own 403b plan. The school has to establish
one where you can then sign up.


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On Aug 27, 5:04 am, pod2...[at]yahoo.com wrote:
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I think you're a little confused. A 403b is just like a 401k, except
it's for scools, universities and non-profits. That being said, it is
still an employer-sponsored plan. You, personally, cannot open one.
You can open an IRA, though, at a place like Fidelity or Vanguard.
And this is precisely what I would recommend you do. I would also
consider doing a Roth conversion, if you qualify.

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This is a red flag. Instead of putting money toward retirement, I
would establish an emergency fund. The standard advice is 3-6 months
of living expenses. Besides being good, sound advice, you also need
to start amassing a down payment, if you intend to buy a house.

--Bill

On Aug 27, 4:04 am, pod2...[at]yahoo.com wrote:
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Roll it over into a regular IRA where you will have better investment
options.

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If your employer isn't matching funds for your 403b, you might be
better off putting that money into a Roth IRA.

You can have a regular and a Roth IRA at the same time, but if you
only have a small amount in your regular IRA, you might want to
convert it to the Roth for simplified accounting.

--
Ron

I'm 31 years old and have 6K in a 401K from my last job. My new job
(school) states that they don't offer any plans because they're so
small and that it's up to me to choose one into which, after a year,
they will start contributing. The 401K at the old place has no
administrative costs, but I'm wondering if I should roll the funds
over into my (to be acquired) 403b? I've done some research on this
(403bwise, discussion forums, and other websites) but am still
wondering the best option to take. From what I've read, seems like
Fidelity and Vanguard are the favored companies to go with...

I basically live month to month, so very little in savings and am
still single. I have no debts currently and will probably be able to
contribute about $500 a month. And also, should I open an IRA
account? I'm assuming I will be retiring in about 25-30 years at a
much higher income bracket, but will probably get married and buy a
home in the next 10 years. Any thoughts are much appreciated.