Quote:
Originally Posted by iowa4430
I am been self employed for about 7 years. Mid 40's. Married, empty nesters. Only debt is house and small cabin.
Wife has a good job with a 401k that she is getting close to maxing out each year.
I haven't put much away since I started the business but am getting ready to start up again. I had rolled my 401k (from previous employer) over to a financial advisor about 5 years ago but haven't contributed much to it. There is around $200,000 in it.
I've visited with FA about needing to get started doing something again but after thinking about it, I think I should maybe look into doing something on my own. It appears that expense ratio wise, it would be much more advantageous to do it myself.
It looks like I could go through Vanguard and do it myself but I'm not sure what my best option would be. IRA? ROTH IRA? Individual 401k? Other?
Maybe down the road I could even transfer some of the money the FA is investing into this new plan at some point.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
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I don't know if you can open a 401(k). If you can, you should. The contribution limit for a 401k is much higher than that for an IRA. If you are eligible for both a 401(k) and an IRA and you think you can contribute more than what the 401(k) would limit you to, obviously you should open both.
In terms of Roth vs Traditional, it really depends on at what income tax bracket you think you will be when you retire and withdraw money from the account. And this depends on how much your wife already has in her 401(k) and how much you guys plan to contribute between now and retirement.
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