Comments on: Choosing Between Retirement Accounts: Traditional IRA, Roth IRA And 401k

By: Should You Still Invest In Your 401k? - Amateur Asset Allocator

Should You Still Invest In Your 401k? - Amateur Asset Allocator — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:01:33 +0000

[...] Revenue Code that came about in 1978. Over 30 years later there are now over 65 million of these retirement accounts floating around, many of which have seen their balances cut in half over the past two [...]

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 10:53:12 +0000

I have a ROTH ira because 401 K is not offered. Ken´s last post ..Money Rules: Making More Is Not Enough

By: David/Yourfinances101

David/Yourfinances101 — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 10:41:16 +0000

Fantastic post.

I never thought about the fees associated with my 401k, since it is employer based.

Something to look into.

I recently converted a decent-sized traditional IRA to a Roth for the very reason listed in the post. I took about a $2000 hit in taxes last year, but I can’t imagine the money I’ll be saving in retirement.
David/Yourfinances101´s last post ..Three Things I Never did to Fix My Finances

By: Mike Piper

Mike Piper — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:44:00 +0000

Indeed. That’s a big part of why all the talk about Roth conversions this year has made me somewhat uncomfortable. I worry that many people will go overboard with tax-free accounts rather than tax-deferred.

At the same time, given the ever-changing nature of tax rates, I see a benefit to tax diversifying. For example, for an investor aged 30 right now, how possible is it to predict with a meaningful degree of accuracy what tax rates and tax brackets will look like in 30-35 years?

By: JoeTaxpayer

JoeTaxpayer — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:26:40 +0000

I continue to caution people that in today’s dollars it would take over $2M in pretax accounts at retirement to create enough income to top off the 15% bracket. If you believe Social Security will still be there when you retire, you should adjust this number to take it into account. Either way, this is a huge number. Average retirees now are nowhere near this. Are we in Lake Wobegon, where 20 or 30 years out we will all be well above average?

By: Mike Piper

Mike Piper — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:13:29 +0000

Hi Paul.

Thanks for buying one of my books and thank you for the compliment.

And just for reference, I’m always very interested to hear what readers think. So if you have any suggestions for improvement for next year’s edition, feel free to shoot me an email.
Mike Piper´s last post ..How to Choose ETFs for Your Portfolio

By: Paul @ Fiscalgeek

Paul @ Fiscalgeek — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:05:24 +0000

A very timely article for me as I’m working up my own retirement plan right now. I’m going your balanced approach of taking the match, IRA and then back to the 401k. Always sound advice Mike. I’m actually reading your book on Small Business taxes right now! Fantastic.
Paul @ Fiscalgeek´s last post ..We’re Debt Free!

By: Craig

Craig — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:19:10 +0000

I don't get a 401k or any program from work so set up my own Roth IRA and maxed it out and hopefully can do so in the second year to get a nice jump on it. Craig´s last post ..Weekly Personal Finance Roundup

By: Mike Piper

Mike Piper — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:23:03 +0000

Thank you for hosting my guest post, Peter.

Sounds like a good plan to me.
Mike Piper´s last post ..How to Choose ETFs for Your Portfolio

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:22:52 +0000

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