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In my other thread, I was advised to get a roth ira, instead of my plain old savings accounts. I do have a retirement account with my job, with employer matching, but the majority of my savings is in bank accounts getting very little interest. So, naturally, some more knowledgeable folks here told me I better stop being so empty-headed stupid and get educated on retirement planning (well they didn't use those words exactly, but that was the tone).
So just now I googled roth iras (again, have done it before) to remind myself why a roth is wrong for someone like me:
-- limited, small, yearly contribution, so for a person near retirement age it's like shoveling with a teaspoon. It won't ever amount to very much, so even if it was a good idea, it isn't very practical.
-- after tax dollars go in, so it is NOT a tax shelter. The benefit is that you won't be taxed later on withdrawal -- but that only matters if you expect to have a high retirement income. Unfortunately, I doubt that will be my problem. I do have a fairly high income now, so roth does exactly the opposite of what I need.
So this is hopefully going to demonstrate that I am not a financial moron.
Right now, there are no good investments, so it doesn't matter that I'm getting low interest. And the fact that I'm getting low interest means I am not worried about being taxed on my interest earnings.
Now one thing I admit I may be doing wrong is not maximizing my RA contributions at my job, because that would reduce my income tax. But it would also mean not being able to put that money in my FDIC insured savings accounts. I have my work RA money going into bonds, because I hate the idea of owning stocks, but who knows what will happen with bonds now.
Ok, so I don't always do what every expert says (and they don't all say the same things, so that wouldn't be possible anyway). But because I used my own little brain to reason things out, I avoided losing anything in the crash of 08. Before that, every expert said you must have stocks. Well they're still saying that.
Then they laughed at me because I mentioned immediate annuities. But I have thought hard about that also. And we have discussed it at this forum, and the verdict was they do make sense these days.
So there. I don't pretend to be an expert, but I do pretend to be someone who thinks long and hard. Yes I am overly careful, by current American standards, but I'm happier that way.
In my other thread, I was advised to get a roth ira, instead of my plain old savings accounts.
sniiiiiiiiiiiiiiip
No, you were not.
You were advised to explore several investment options only some of which were actually named
and all of which are nearly guaranteed to produce a better net return than plain old savings accounts...
And you were advised that your statements about roth accounts were in factual error.
And you were also advised to seek competent professional help.
---
I'm not intending to be rude or snarky here; truly. Take the advice or don't...
but restating what has been said to you in ways that reinforce your preconceptions and preferred beliefs doesn't help you.
people tend to believe their own bull-shi% right or wrong.
once they get pre-conceived notions and myths in their head its hard for them to see beyond their own idea.
a roth is a no brainer compared to a taxable account. the price of admission is the same and the roth is never taxable vs the taxable account being forever taxable. keywords are the price of admission is the same.
no matter how low of a tax bracket your in the roth is the winner by a land slide.
its not such an easy choice between a roth and other retirement vehicles as depending on your situation there is no clear cut winner.
Last edited by mathjak107; 05-29-2011 at 02:51 AM..
people tend to believe their own bull-shi% right or wrong.
once they get pre-conceived notions and myths in their head its hard for them to see beyond their own idea.
a roth is a no brainer compared to a taxable account. the price of admission is the same and the roth is never taxable vs the taxable account being forever taxable. keywords are the price of admission is the same.
no matter how low of a tax bracket your in the roth is the winner by a land slide.
its not such an easy choice between a roth and other retirement vehicles as depending on your situation there is no clear cut winner.
You didn't answer my statements about roths, which I did not make up, many experts say the same thing. You want to stick by roths being a no-brainer, but you don't explain why.
You were advised to explore several investment options only some of which were actually named
and all of which are nearly guaranteed to produce a better net return than plain old savings accounts...
And you were advised that your statements about roth accounts were in factual error.
And you were also advised to seek competent professional help.
---
I'm not intending to be rude or snarky here; truly. Take the advice or don't...
but restating what has been said to you in ways that reinforce your preconceptions and preferred beliefs doesn't help you.
You enjoyed smirking and looking down your nose at me Mr. Rational. But to earn that right, you really should give some RATIONAL reasons. Which you have not done.
i told you why..... read what i wrote..... it takes the same effort and money as it does to pay taxes forever on your taxable account vs just establishing a roth and never ever paying taxes on interest or growth and starting to fill that up.
never taxed money no matter how small your bracket is better than taxed money. the less you have the more every dollar has to count...
Right now, there are no good investments, so it doesn't matter that I'm getting low interest.
No good investments? Have you ignored many of the returns on mutual funds over the last year. You've really missed out if you didn't invest in them. Some say that small cap funds are the first funds to excel when the economy recovers from the recession. A wise investor would take advantage and have dollar cost averaged into a well diversified portfolio.
No good investments? Have you ignored many of the returns on mutual funds over the last year. You've really missed out if you didn't invest in them. Some say that small cap funds are the first funds to excel when the economy recovers from the recession. A wise investor would take advantage and have dollar cost averaged into a well diversified portfolio.
i told you why..... read what i wrote..... it takes the same effort and money as it does to pay taxes forever on your taxable account vs just establishing a roth and never ever paying taxes on interest or growth and starting to fill that up.
never taxed money no matter how small your bracket is better than taxed money. the less you have the more every dollar has to count...
As I already said, I am saving about $30k every year. Tiny bits of money don't matter to me now.
You enjoyed smirking and looking down your nose at me Mr. Rational.
you really do read much into things. too much.
responding to that is the common theme of my comments...
responding to that tendency of yours and which has become my primary basis for an opinion of you.
way back in that other thread I pointed out the stylistic aspect of HOW you asked for raw data...
but not offering your own data before asking others to volunteer their data. you ignored this too.
it's become rather apparent that you consider your own research and data compiling is best
and (I suspect) were mostly looking for numbers to reinforce your prior conclusions and rather limiting choices.
Quote:
But to earn that right, you really should give some RATIONAL reasons. Which you have not done.
pardon? earn what right?
the right to observe and suggest professional consultation?
that using such objective criteria be the basis for important choices?
that what you had stated was shown to be biased and (apparently) based in factually erroneous interpretations?
good luck to you.
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