OT: Career/Finance/Money Management Thread

[Jose7]

Hey. They don't teach us none of this **** in school.

So here's my predicament. I've started my career as an occupational therapist earlier this year.. I went to graduate school on mostly loans and have started paying down thatdebt (the only debt I have). I get paid enough to worry about long term saving and sh.t like that. Please those with knowledge regarding IRAs, 401ks, all that good shyt, please share your knowledge.

[moocow007]

Congrats Jose. You always struck me as a guy with a good head on your shoulders and that has the type of focus to be successful.

I would suggest talking with a financial advisor at some point regardless of what feedback you get from folks on this board. You should do your research on what the good one's are in your area (even financial analysts get rated). They don't charge you anything and make money based on directing you to specific plans and investment portfolio's. You want to go with a guy that isn't locked into a specific fund or set of funds and that have access to everything out there. Those will direct you to the best available funds and investments that's out there instead of just to things they work with.

I know there are specific IRA's that are geared towards things like real estate investment (if you think of getting into that sort of thing). So if that's the case you want to look into folks that have experience dealing with that area. May not be financial analysts only but also accountants that are familiar with that.

[Meat]

a lot of what you'er going to to do is personalized to the finical adviser. Fund lineups differ from fa to fa, I make asset allocation models myself for 401k plans, i prefer to use a combo of etfs and mutual funds. I know some guys that hate both.

The 2 big things to remember are always reinvest dividends\gains, and it's not a savings account,the money should be considered untouchable till you're 59.5

[Knicks_Fan2]

There are just way too many factors specific to an individual person to give good advice here, including what benefits your employer (as a therapist, I assume you are independent) gives you. Now that you are working, however, I would strongly suggest you put together a fairly strict budget from which you can hive off enough toward your long term savings. Make sure you take advantage of all tax deferred amounts offered by the IRS (e.g. 401K (up to certain amount); Roth (same) if you can. ultimately, though, nobody here can give you a clear answer without knowing your finances which you obviously don't need to disclose here.

[Phish Tank]

I mean, the posts above are on the money. The easiest thing you can do is contribute to your 401k and contribute enough to where your company matches your contributions.

I personally contribute to both a traditional and Roth 401k since I have excess savings. I know down the road, attempting to contribute a traditional 401k into a Roth might result in a larger tax liability. Right now, I don't have the time to fully allocating my 401k assets, so I follow recommendations from my plan manager for that.

From there, figure out your short and long-term strategy. I know I'm looking into having enough money for a good down payment so I've been saving as much money as I can and keeping it in liquid accounts for the most part. I'm thinking of using a financial advisor to help me pick out good ETFs and mutual funds. I also have a separate play account to invest into miscellaneous stocks and other items too.

Diversification is key in the end and having the right financial guidance from advisors will make your life a lot easier.

[DrKnick]

Have little to no debt and minimize bills as much as possible. Scavenge for food, objects(metal) and money. **** auto loans/having new cars and **** renting an apartment. Invest in real estate since it's the surest investment there is. Save, save and save. Even if you're working a dead-end job. Learn a new skill every month. Get certifications and occupational licenses. Pretty simple.

[Knicks_Fan2]

Have little to no debt and minimize bills as much as possible. Scavenge for food, objects(metal) and money. **** auto loans/having new cars and **** renting an apartment. Invest in real estate since it's the surest investment there is. Save, save and save. Even if you're working a dead-end job. Learn a new skill every month. Get certifications and occupational licenses. Pretty simple.

Auto loans: the line item that crushes many families' capital in this country. We are a car obsessed culture and it's too easy to get into something that you cannot afford based on the payment, which significantly disturbs household savings.

[Meat]

Have little to no debt and minimize bills as much as possible. Scavenge for food, objects(metal) and money. **** auto loans/having new cars and **** renting an apartment. Invest in real estate since it's the surest investment there is. Save, save and save. Even if you're working a dead-end job. Learn a new skill every month. Get certifications and occupational licenses. Pretty simple.

Auto loans: the line item that crushes many families' capital in this country. We are a car obsessed culture and it's too easy to get into something that you cannot afford based on the payment, which significantly disturbs household savings.

is that a factor for new yorkers? in my circle of friends i the only one that lives in the 5 boroughs and own a car.

[AmazingJason]

If you plan on getting married and having kids in the future, be very careful with whom you decide to tie the knot with. All the career, finance, and money management advice can be tossed out the window if you screw this one up

[Knicks_Fan2]

Have little to no debt and minimize bills as much as possible. Scavenge for food, objects(metal) and money. **** auto loans/having new cars and **** renting an apartment. Invest in real estate since it's the surest investment there is. Save, save and save. Even if you're working a dead-end job. Learn a new skill every month. Get certifications and occupational licenses. Pretty simple.

Auto loans: the line item that crushes many families' capital in this country. We are a car obsessed culture and it's too easy to get into something that you cannot afford based on the payment, which significantly disturbs household savings.

is that a factor for new yorkers? in my circle of friends i the only one that lives in the 5 boroughs and own a car.

Definitely not as much of a factor for New Yorkers as it is for the rest of the country.

[Knicks_Fan2]

If you plan on getting married and having kids in the future, be very careful with whom you decide to tie the knot with. All the career, finance, and money management advice can be tossed out the window if you screw this one up

Kids, especially. Childcare is just a monster cost...second one on the wayyyy.

[AmazingJason]

Have little to no debt and minimize bills as much as possible. Scavenge for food, objects(metal) and money. **** auto loans/having new cars and **** renting an apartment. Invest in real estate since it's the surest investment there is. Save, save and save. Even if you're working a dead-end job. Learn a new skill every month. Get certifications and occupational licenses. Pretty simple.

This is an extremist site, but there's definitely some good advice there that echos DrKnick's advice (living well below your means, having no debt, investing): http://earlyretirementextreme.com.

[DrKnick]

If you plan on getting married and having kids in the future, be very careful with whom you decide to tie the knot with. All the career, finance, and money management advice can be tossed out the window if you screw this one up

Kids, especially. Childcare is just a monster cost...second one on the wayyyy.

Women too. Even with my advice, women will shatter it since they have this strange materialistic mindset. All the women I've been with and/or interested in are like that.

[Knicks_Fan2]

If you plan on getting married and having kids in the future, be very careful with whom you decide to tie the knot with. All the career, finance, and money management advice can be tossed out the window if you screw this one up

Kids, especially. Childcare is just a monster cost...second one on the wayyyy.

Women too. Even with my advice, women will shatter it since they have this strange materialistic mindset. All the women I've been with and/or interested in are like that.

Agreed. Fortunately, I found one that is less materialistic than I am.

[poeman]

Nice...Here are my 2 BIGGEST TIPS.

If you have a full-time job, max out your employer contributions on 401k. So most companies match 5% of what you put in from your paycheck.

ALSO, if you earn less then $116k a year as a single filer open a ROTH IRA. This post-tax and what you put in is basically a enhanced savings account that you can take out your money at any point while still feel like you are investing in mutual funds and what not. You can take out your contributions at any point, but your earnings (the profit) will sit there until its retirement age. And at that time you won't get taxed for using your earnings! You get taxed on traditional IRA if you ever take out the money early.

The max contribution you can make a year is $5,500 I believe. If you cross a threshold as a single person of making more then $116k then you can't use it.

I suggest looking into Vanguard, Fidelity, etc for a ROTH IRA
http://www.rothira.com/roth-ira-limits

[DrKnick]

Who the hell makes $116K/year these days? That's the question.

[thebuzzardman]

Spend all your money on hookers and blow. Life is short and you'll soon be a putrefying corpse.

[J9Starks3]

Nice...Here are my 2 BIGGEST TIPS.

If you have a full-time job, max out your employer contributions on 401k. So most companies match 5% of what you put in from your paycheck.

ALSO, if you earn less then $116k a year as a single filer open a ROTH IRA. This post-tax and what you put in is basically a enhanced savings account that you can take out your money at any point while still feel like you are investing in mutual funds and what not. You can take out your contributions at any point, but your earnings (the profit) will sit there until its retirement age. And at that time you won't get taxed for using your earnings! You get taxed on traditional IRA if you ever take out the money early.

The max contribution you can make a year is $5,500 I believe. If you cross a threshold as a single person of making more then $116k then you can't use it.

I suggest looking into Vanguard, Fidelity, etc for a ROTH IRA
http://www.rothira.com/roth-ira-limits

Awesome advice I was going to bring up a lot of these same points. Lots of folks forget the post-tax, but in reality you'll most likely be paying a higher tax later (hopefully earning more and most likely just a higher rate due to our crazy national debt and terrible politicians) than you do now.

Also don't forget your actual liquid savings. Single/no kids you need 3-6 months salary stashed away where you won't touch it but can in case you have a real issue. More if you're married and/or have kids