401k regrets reddit No regrets, our 401K is still in good shape and we love our house. My regrets have been pulling money out on stupid things when I was younger. I borrowed against my 401K to purchase a home. I will be eligible for early out retirement in about a year and am seriously considering it. r/menards our community is the best way to get help on Reddit with your questions about investing with OP is talking about a 401k loan, not a withdrawal. It's not "locked" in the 401k until you are 59. The only reason to not roll it into a Roth IRA is because your 401(k) offers exceptionally good funds which you cannot get in a IRA. No regrets financially, but it was an archaic system. As an official Fidelity customer care channel, our community is the best way to get the amount you can contribute as you approach retirement may be higher (not sure about 401K, but IRA contribution limit for over 55 is $6500) (corrected by u/the_docs_orders, see below for his comment. They are aged 27, 23, 15, and 11. In the event you have more taxable income in retirement than what you’re earning right now then a Roth 401k makes sense. You get your portion of the Total and he gets his portion of the Total. Let's say you are thinking you need more cash, you can lower your 401k contributions in 2024 to get more cash. The only thing I can say with absolute certainty is that you will 100% regret withdrawing from your 401k. There's no reset button. Do I believe taxes are going to higher or lower when I am retired? I would bet lower. I still have some of my original funds, because they performed really well and you can't get in them anymore. Other savings regrets included not making the most of their 401(k) plan, not enrolling in the plan early enough, and not saving the maximum amount allowed by their plan. Acknowledge the past, but don’t let it drag you down. By then I had more money in my 401k and I could take more out so I was able to pay off another loan. As you age, and near retirement, you can move your money within your 401k to least risky, so if the market tanks, you will be ok. Unlock the secrets to a regret-free retirement from those who've been there. Entrust had me drowning in fees, so I save $1000s per year in fee savings. Feel free to share! Government work still provides pensions. I had been maxing out my 401k for the tax advantages and loaned from it to pay off one of the smallest loans. Here's where I needed some advice. Your money will grow. The balance in the account is at My thought is using my 401k as a down payment for a house in my area. Members Online. When you leave a job, you have until October of the following year (the due date of your tax return on extension) to put the money back into your 401(k) or an IRA or a 401(k) at a new employer. I regret not putting more money into my 401k. Your take home after retirement and expenses is probably 3 or 4 grand!! It imperative now you make that excess money compound one way or another through all the avenues expressed above rather than sit idle. As it turned out my wife was laid off due to COVID; it turns out to be lucky because it means we should get the 10 percent penalty back at tax time. If I want the company to put money into my profit sharing / retirement plan, then I If you don’t contribute to the 401k at all, you’re turning down free money. I contributed but i wish i could’ve maxed out contributions. The reason you’re missing $5k extra growth in your Roth 401k is because the government will tax every cent coming out of the Traditional 401k. There’s a really cheesy documentary about “The Villages” in Florida. Plus the value of the house went up more than missed gains in the 401k. We were both at fault but now I have settled down and regret Get the Reddit app Scan this QR code to download the app now. At this point, I don’t have the savings to pay my bills and survive for 12-weeks of unpaid maternity leave and my partner is considering taking on a second job during my leave just for us to survive. No regrets. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. Contribute to a 401k, lower your taxable income, enjoy tax deferred growth until you withdraw in your 60s/70s/80s. For IRA, however, the Roth IRA is almost always the right choice. The movie isn’t very good but there was a woman from MA who moved there to save money, regretted it, and couldn’t afford to move back. All regrets, but so what? Financial regrets Planning I didn't invest outside of my 401k until my mid-30s, so I think you're doing well! The official Python community for Reddit! Stay up to date with the latest news, packages, and meta information relating to the Python programming language. Look around and see if the ppl that have been there for a while are miserable or happy. Married my wife young, she was 17, I was 19. Match is definitely nice, but the tax break is the main driver. Anyone regrets their 401k decisions? For example - contributing/not contributing, contributing too little/too much, starting too late, bad allocation, etc? If you have regrets share a realistic "what I have been investing 21 percent of my income into my 401k for about 2 years now and I am starting to think its dumb. And my 401k is back to well above the amount I should have saved for my age. However one of my regrets from my 20’s is maxing all of my retirement vehicles on a 50k salary and not saving a lot of cash. Reply reply Top 2% Rank by size . I made a plan to pay off my loan within 1 year. Let's say in 2024, you want to keep putting money into your 401k, you can do that. California regrets. Who else looks at their savings when they’re feeling sad :D But in all honesty what’s been one of the major regrets you’ve I would have started putting 10% into my 401K, when I was first hired at 25 and just kept doing that until I retired at 60. Roth before remainder of 401k since its after tax money but since someone is a low earner the actual amount of tax they are paying on that is so small that it won’t matter and then they will have the tremendous benefit of taking that money out tax free later in life Get the Reddit app Scan this Cashing out 401k early, what should I expect? any regrets? I left a job 2 years ago "during the pandemic" with about 26,000$ in a 401k account. Every situation is unique. generally you don't want to touch retirement savings unless it's to avoid payday/title loans. Get app Get the Reddit app Log In Log in to Reddit. More importantly however, the behavior of reddit leadership in implementing these changes 23. Forum for economy, business, politics, stocks, bonds, product releases, IPOs, advice, news, investment With the 401k contribution limit being so much higher than the Roth IRA limit, if I had stuck with all traditional 401k my mix would be much less balanced. Absolutely. Age 40-59. Make your money work for you. Basically I would just mirror my Roth positions Here are some stats: 401k YTD 4. You'll have to pay it back to yourself with interest (interest goes back into your 401k). , which has offices in Chicago’s north shore suburbs and You're not supposed to put your life savings in a 401(K), you're supposed to put your retirement savings in a 401(K). No regrets having children, only regrets about the timing. As an official Fidelity customer care channel, our community is the best way to get help on Reddit with your questions about investing with Fidelity – directly from Fidelity Associates. There was no Roth 401k option then, and I manage to max traditional 401k some years Left company and the 401k I have with them must be moved as the amount in the account is under the required $ amount. r/phmigrate A chip A close button. 55 votes, 107 comments. Get your money and your health in order ASAP. Ive only ever worked for for-profit bussinesses so Ive only ever had 401k. So many folks at retirement regret not contributing more young, a tale as old as time at retirement age. If you don't pay it back it's taxed and penalized (not ideal). I primarily worked in restaurants and my income was unstable. If you don't have a 401K with your employer, set up an IRA and set up automatic deposits each paycheck. NORMAL people should keep the 401k and wait till retirement maybe even take a loan against it but just sharing a different perspective. 07 per year for every $100 invested in 401k. I think one of my greatest regrets was not putting in the effort to stay in touch with the guy that was my best friend since 1st grade up to a few years after high school. More posts you may like r/menards. While we were home with the kids, all our 20-something friends were out partying. And there's no way to exclude 401K accounts from a dividend, everybody who owns the investment gets it. It all depends on your interest. 01% (I can't find the ticker). Join our community, read the PF Wiki, and get on top of your finances! Also, you'll probably regret cutting back on your 401K. Divide total by 2, and you get how much is yours and how much is his. Early withdrawal from 401k means 20% tax withholding. It's best used for tax inefficient assets, -- stuff that throws off a lot of dividends. Do not use a 401k as easy money. The combined 8% is a great start. From june 2020- april 2021 when I repay my 401k loan my 401k increases by 60% so i ended up paying $12 in realized cost plus the $500 fee plus the 5% interest on the loan. Here are the top three: Living in the moment & not saving enough for the future. , that widely accepted wisdom doesn’t Check out the Personal Finance group on InSite for more details and examples. Otherwise, proceed to 2. I mean, I run plenty of errands where I can make small talk with people while I'm out and about. So you’re either getting taxed on the way in or on the way out. My only regrets are not saving for retirement early and not having a proper fitness habit in place. Take A LOAN from the new 401k. Our professional fact-checkers verify article information against So I actually stopped investing in my retirement and started investing in things that I could touch in under ten years like real estate, high yield savings, I bonds, etc to each their own. Bitcoin is a highly tax efficient asset-- just hodl and you don't need to have it in a 401k to defer gains taxes as long as you want. My 401k(s) have grown nicely, despite some serious dips here and there. Safety services such as police and fire When your 401(k) plan is inactive after leaving an employer, you generally have a few choices to consider: Keep your 401(k) with your former employer No regrets. Expand user menu Open settings menu. Any excuse to get money from you. However, real estate is an investment too. You're I withdrew my wife's 401k to do renovation on a house we bought. Log In / Sign Up; Advertise I did a withdrawal and have no regrets as I’m sitting here typing this in my office in Don't take an early withdrawal. I don't regret maxing it out, though I do wish Roth would have been available to me back then because my tax rate was a lot lower then. Our goal is to help Redditors get answers to questions about Fidelity products and services, money movement, transfers, trading and more. I know typically the recommendation would be to roll over the existing 401(k) and pension into an IRA, VOO & chill (or 70% VTI / 30% VXUS /// or 70% VFIAX / 30% VTIAX) . If you have a current job with 401k, roll over your old 401k into the new one. No regrets there. I can't complain with results. Pretax at 22 or 24. Then when you get to a new company, roll it into their 401k. I’m in my early 30s, have a decent job but am struggling financially at the moment with the increase in prices of practically everything. 11% 401k 1m -5% 401k 1y 9. Edit: since your existing account is a Roth 401(k), I would probably roll it into a Roth IRA at Fidelity. Reddit millionaires will make you think it’s a terrible idea. For those with a stellar 40s, what did you do to foster it? Put money in your 401k. That’s some mighty expensive birthday cake and Christmas gift wrapping. I know that you can roll a 401k over into a 403b but I wanted to see if anyone knew if there were any advantages in doing so. Join our community, read the PF Wiki, and get on top of your finances! Members Online 401k space isn't easily obtained even though you make more now, you're still limited on your 401k contributions. 1, 2018, gives workers a little more time. I’ve seen ups and downs before and have ridden through it, but I’m starting to freak out a bit because every A New York Times (NYT) article recently sparked a discussion on Reddit about whether the shift from traditional pensions to 401(k) plans was a mistake. If you can max both: congratulations. Once you’re comfortably in retirement, it’s actually riskier to be too heavily in bonds and other low performing assets as you’re more likely to run out of money without enough exposure to stocks. I’m debating cashing out my 401K from my previous employer and it makes me nervous. I usually only regret buying something else, when I could have bought FXAIX. If you are financially responsible, a 401K is a great resource to come up with a chunk of cash required for a down Anyone here na magsstart pa lang or nagstart ng 401k nila in their late-20s? navigation Go to Reddit Home. You don’t have to dump every penny into retirement just to have a nice big fund later, you can and should be enjoying life now. But the time will come where your earnings potential and marketability in the workplace will dwindle, and that will be the exact moment you realize Learn about budgeting, saving, getting out of debt, credit, investing, and retirement planning. The first SEPP on IRA #1 covers your living expenses until you're 59. You can have whatever you want for a ceremony. The debate captured When funding their golden years, most Americans rely heavily on their 401 (k) retirement accounts to make it happen. We have 401ks, 403b, other holdings and plenty of liquid assets, but don’t need to draw on any of these for our expenses. If the amount in the old 401(k) is small enough, and your current earned income is small enough, immediately roll over to an IRA with Schwab, Fidelity, or Vanguard and do a Roth Conversion on the entire amount. We closed on the house early due to the seller's request and our previous home couldn't finish closing in time. age 25, year 2000. True investments. To get over regret, save more now. From a simple math perspective, it doesn't matter because it comes out the same in the end. 5 then you don't have to play such games anymore. " However in my view, the penalty does not make the 401k an untouchable lockbox. That's how powerful investing is. Even on vacations they're checking emails or on calls. If you start in your 20s, then you will be able to retire at retirement age, even if you work low income jobs. My current plan (if we can actually find a house) is to settle on the new one a few days before using our 401k, which gives us a few days to actually do the move while we still own both properties, but not enough overlap to have a double mortgage payment. I don't have a 401k feature in the new plan. Retirement Accounts (articles on 401(k) plans, IRAs, and more) "How to handle $" I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. When you borrow from your 401k, you have to sell assets to get the cash to loan you, and you miss out on the gains. At tax time, you owe income tax plus 10% penalty. Unless: You think your 401k will gain less than the mortgage rate (2. if your CC rate is below 20% that is probably the preferred option. 5. Over long time frames, high stock exposure performs best, and, ideally, your full retirement is a long time frame (possibly 30 years or more). Save the rest for the stuff you want to do now and for the next 40 In 2023, the single biggest financial regret of Americans surveyed by Forbes was waiting too long to start saving for retirement. If you BORROW the money, which I believe you can do 50% of your 401k, there are no tax ramifications and you will repay that with interest all back to your 401k over the next several years. I have a 401k and co-own a home, but I’m wondering if there’s anything else I can do to build and protect wealth over the next few decades. The only time I would consider moving out of the TSP is for withdrawals in reitrement, but the TSP rules on those have been changing for the better and may be If your 401k is small, the fee will eventually absorb all the growth, then the balance and even end up with a 0 balance. Unless you have a track record in investing in RE then that evidence probably isn’t there. So to take OP's post one step further, I think a lot of variables fuel regret. This is useful if you have different needs overtime. Use this as a lesson, not a life sentence. According to this article, over 3/4 of respondents acknowledged having a financial regrets. A 401k and an IRA are relatively similar in theory- just they have different investment options, income limitations, and max contribution limits. Moved to Amsterdam in 94 for a two year contract, by about 2010 I was pretty sure I was going to stay here. The monthly payment I matched to what my current payment was with interest and as soon as I got a bonus I paid it off. why not, you can roll over to your new jobs 401, if you have another 401k, you can roll over the money to Walmart as well, start saving early, you can’t pay directly into a 401k, it gets taken out of your paycheck, but what you can do is pay into Walmart 401k, then roll over the money to your new jobs 401k, so I would do, that way the 401k amount at your new job won’t be zero, and Though I contributed to retirement accounts in my 20s and 30s I didn't take investing and personal finance seriously until two years ago at 42. I don't regret not saving earlier, only not being in a position to do so. I currently have 15k in my current job and 9k from my previous job and am thinking of cashing out my 9k or at least 6k and keeping the 3k in there or rolling it to a Roth . You can receive some pension with as little as 10 years of working and paying into the retirement system, though most require 30 years or more for full retirement pension. I don’t want to have the same regrets in another 20 years. If you have no pension like I did, you will want to put more in, like 15%+. 401k, started in 99. Save the rest for the stuff you want to do now and for the next 40 That said, you're 25: I'd suggest doing the 401k 5% match, then open a Roth outside your company's 401k program (probably with Vanguard). So might as well just put your money in a regular stock account. I guess it's pretty normal though. I’m currently contributing 5% (but it comes to similar amount due to higher pay). A traditional 401(k) is taxed as income when it is withdrawn and with a penalty on top of that before a certain age (with certain hardship exceptions). 😀 The new law, which applies to loans taken after Jan. I’m 24, should be looking at a full time career. NOW, at 42, our kids are grown. I'm seriously thinking of changing careers. However, if you don't contribute a bunch this year, you I don't have a 401k feature in the new plan. Yes, do the 401k. My retirement is okay now, but it would have been far better than okay had I started immediately. I’ve accumulated around 100k last time I checked. When it came time to buy a house I could either tap into the 401k (which I really didn’t want to do) or get a 3% down mortgage (not a The other regret I'll toss your way, 401k offers back door contributions to retirement, meaning you can contribute much higher than IRA limits, and you can back door thousands into Roth IRA's as after tax, meaning those dollars earn interest/appreciation tax free forever, you can take principle any time and and earnings tax free after 59 1/2. 5 years old and can withdraw from your 401(k). I essentially have two generations of children. So one of the benefits of working at Lowe’s is the employee 401k, which in a few more work days I’ll be eligible to start paying into if I choose. By Jenny Cohen. So I know I can RE at any point, but my income is high enough to where I'll net (after income taxes but before other expenses) about 9-10% of my liquid net worth if I work another year, which will always feel significant as either a plausible boost in retirement spending or Yes. I think that's part of what's fueling her regret - in her mind, boys and girls play with different toys, wear different clothes, etc. ALSO, 401k offer protection from creditors that IRAs DO NOT PROVIDE. Obviously, borrowing against your 401K is a risk. It’s generally considered best practice to maximize your annual 401k contribution and split that maximum BUT by losing the insurance money, I discovered the FI family and am now maxing out 401k and ira, and on schedule to pay all the student loans in 5 years - I thankfully had my mom take a home equity loan at a 4% fixed rate to pay off the variable loans. I will have 20 years and meet the age requirement. I’ve never left my home state, but if I did go to a lower COL area, I’d try to make sure I had an option to return just in case. I decided the responsible thing to do as an immigrant was to get citizenship, then spent about two years thinking about it before getting Dutch citizenship and renouncing my US citizenship in 2015 / 2016. But my new employer 401(k) (Voya) has an S&P Index managed by Vanguard with an expense ratio of 0. Rents are high and housing is slim, so I don’t anticipate a huge loss on the vacancy front. You can only put in $10k a year (barring a few minor loopholes), so I just deposit $10k per year for a bit of my emergency fund - I do this after ensuring I max the 401k, roth, HSA obviously - and then after the I-bond purchase the money starts going into my taxable brokerage (or I buy toys). If you can max your Roth for the year ($6k), then go back and put more in your 401k. However, I do not have a current 401K that I can roll it into (all are past employers) The advice I am getting is to open up a traditional IRA and roll it into there until I do have an active 401K that I can roll it into. I've never regretted buying FXAIX. have a few months to travel. 94 in interest, making you profit $4. I still put 10% pretax into 401k with a 7% company match. That was almost 23 years ago. I do want to diversify as I near retirement though and my 401k does not have good options that perform well against FXAIX. Now, let’s turn this around. That assumes that your tax rate in retirement will be the same as your tax rate now. Sure, I regret not maxing out my Roth IRA and 403b the last twenty years. Anything related to life abroad, migration experiences, success or regrets. If I want the company to put money into my profit sharing / retirement plan, then I The 401(k) and the Traditional IRA yes, they are pre-tax, the amount you put in is removed from your taxable income, and the you pay taxes in retirement when you take out the money, but at your tax brackets in retirement. After 5 years, convert 401k/TSP to IRA each year, withdraw seasoned/qualified money each year until you hit 59. When you are young retirement seems like an eternity away that will never get here. I agree, but she and her husband have a different belief system than I do. So to those who had a previous career before switching to the airlines, do you have any regrets? As for contributing beyond that company match- you should look at the investment options in your 401k and decide what tax flavor you want to choose (roth/traditional). Curious on everyone’s I’ve lost $34k from my 401k since the beginning of the year and starting to freak out. Now my Roth is out performing the 401k, so y thinking was to roll my 401k into an IRA and I can pick much better funds that are available to everyone and my money should grow faster. Even in this I was at a company for 7 years, and contributed 10% to my 401k with matching from the company. The money you invest now has much more "power" than the money you invest later. 8% Roth 1y N/A Hop on over to r/povertyfinance and check out the kids in their 20s trying to support parents with nothing saved for retirement. Put as much in tax advantage retirement accounts as you possibly can because: You pay less taxes and actually make more money this way (401k contributions are not taxed) Saving more means you can retire earlier and have more in retirement Nobody ever regrets saving money. As you get older, you can start going towards a Roth 401k. It I've been contributing pretax income to my 401k at 15% (employer matches first 5%), been contributing 15% for the past 3 years, was at 20% before that. My dad is recommending it since he never had a 401k and regrets it. Fuck what anyone thinks find out who pays the most and get there. Now I own 3 homes. Horrifying townhouse. I started putting my raise into roth 401k so I'll have the contributions in roth ira and roth 401k to go along with taxable to bridge 55-59. We both retired in our 50s and live on our pensions only. The formula is simple: His 401k + your 401k + all IRA = Total Retirement. If I'd known what IRAs were at 21 instead of just learning about them a few years ago in my late 20s, I'd have way more in my IRA now. To everyone, make the best of this decade. So 10% fed, 10% state PLUS TAXES! I would invest in a traditional 401k since you'll be investing more over a longer period of time. So the exact reasoning to be hesitant to sell stock in your brokerage account (they're down) will likely be true in the brokerage account. I have two 401k plans because of my previous job and my current job. Assume 401k contribution is $100, tax rate is constant at 20%, and you save $150 a year. All of the other stuff I just look at as lessons learned and experiences that made me who I am today, which I’m generally pretty happy with. We see posts about job loss and 401k loans regularly, too. I’d also start some emergency funds and future savings in buckets and start throwing a little bit into each bucket each month. either way, it's going to cost you, not having an efund. You won’t regret it now, and will maybe even feel really good when you pay those debts. Roll it into a personal 401k where the fee are cheaper or nonexistent is the best move. Been hearing about all the financial books say invest in your 401k, You don't get 401k tax benefits from retiring early, fully taxed with 10% penalty. We had kids straight away. You setup 2 SEPPs. Too many soon-to-be retirees put off retirement saving, says Kerry Soudan with TREW Financial & Benefits Group, Inc. If you’re asking this question on Reddit then the answer is probably, no. Please note that 401(k) plan withdrawals may be subject to taxes and penalties based on your tax bracket and age. For Filipinos interested in migrating abroad. Hi - I am considering withdrawaling from my 401K and was hoping to get others’ experiences/advice that have done this. I can't say I have any regrets, but I did things a little differently. Basically you have enough in taxable accounts to live for 5ish years, then convert your 401k/TSP funds to Roth IRA, those conversions become available to be withdrawn after 5 years. My 401k plan automatically increases my contribution 1% a year until I hit 15% (plus my company match of 5%), and Contribute to max Roth IRA (You still can do it with your 2024 income, and I wish you plan to do it). If you’re going to borrow from your 401k to invest in real estate you want the preponderance of evidence to say that you’ll beat the market with your RE investment. I never rolled it over to a pension that I have now with a new job "I personally thought you couldn't roll over a I also like 401K because it’s taken out prior to your paycheck getting deposited so you don’t really miss it because you don’t see it and don’t realize it’s even there. Updated April 25, 2024 Fact checked. I don't know that it answers the question, but I'll throw it out there. -also some states offer down payment Put money in your 401k. My 401k is through Fidelity Those are usually really good. Or check it out in the app stores Learn about budgeting, saving, getting out of debt, credit, investing, and retirement planning. 5-3% per year) Or You dont have any other choice to get your down payment then do it. Not surprisingly, baby boomers expressed this regret at a much That said, you're 25: I'd suggest doing the 401k 5% match, then open a Roth outside your company's 401k program (probably with Vanguard). So I recently recieved an offer with a not-for-profit company. I joined a new company 6 months ago, and they have a separate company for their 401k. And depending on the type of 401k, you can switch funds, so while you're young, you should take a little risk, and grow that money. Start small. And/or the people who are retirement age who are trying to figure out how to live off social security and nothing else. Another major benefit is that with a self-directed Solo 401k, you don't pay fees. No specific amount, just the same percentage. View community ranking In the Top 5% of largest communities on Reddit. Also, even if an employer doesn’t have match, that’s no reason not to use the 401k. Here’s the deal: regrets won’t pay the bills or get you ahead. If I'd just invested at all after the 2008 crash, instead of just in my 401k, I'd be up a lot more. 73% Roth 1m -0. I have a lot of regrets about how I handled my money in my 20s, I often hear of those not wanting to contribute much to their 401k due it being "locked away until 59. Ya agreed match first, debt 2nd, Roth IRA 3rd, rest of the 401k 4th. It's not all or nothing. nobody ever regrets saving too much for retirement. You can decide on the uniform, you can have it as low key or as elaborate as you want. Starting a 401k is free if you have a bank account. Contributing Roth or Traditional dollars to a 401k can get your match, but I think for most people, most of the time, the 401k should be used for Traditional/pre-tax retirement savings. That’s growth. You can keep your respective 401k's and split the IRA to make it all equal, or you can QDRO the 401k's. It’s pretax, so your 4% contribution will be barely noticeable in terms of your net pay. Put money in your 401k. If husband loses his job, the 401k loan is due immediately. I had no idea what I was doing, I just made some random selections and kept them. If you're getting 5% for 401k and if you have the current mortgage rate of 7%, then that's when you have to start comparing which is best. So if you put all your money is 401k, you can make $7 and use it to pay the $2. 20% Roth YTD 8. If you can afford your new mortgage payment and your 401k loan payment at the same time, it's not a bad idea. It's just a profit sharing plan. why not, you can roll over to your new jobs 401, if you have another 401k, you can roll over the money to Walmart as well, start saving early, you can’t pay directly into a 401k, it gets taken out of your paycheck, but what you can do is pay into Walmart 401k, then roll over the money to your new jobs 401k, so I would do, that way the 401k amount at your new job won’t be zero, and The new law, which applies to loans taken after Jan. Create a budget that works for you. You learned something invaluable: how not to handle money. The point of dividends is to distribute profits back to the shareholders. I hate my current fed job, have endlessly applied to jobs at different agencies in hopes I could get a transfer and would like them better, but have had no luck after years of trying. I’m pregnant and due in mid-March. Edited by Michael Kurko. a 0% card would be better. Hi everyone, I am in need of some advice. I didn't start until I was 33 yrs old. If I get out I plan on keeping a Roth IRA (can't move a Roth IRA to the TSP anyway) and when I move employers moving the 401k to the TSP and starting up a new 401k at the new employer. Posted by u/B0diless - 2,351 votes and 2,284 comments But, withdrawals at retirement have the opportunity to fill each bracket starting with the standard deduction. I actually do think you’ll regret it if you don’t honor the people who supported you and your service along the way. In the four years I wasn't waiting tables or tending bar, it was for small companies that didn't have a retirement plan. This is the part I regret that I didn't do it for every eligible years. Hi all, would appreciate some advice/reassurance, Laid off 9 days away from being fully vested in 401k - do I have any way to not lose that vested money? The fact that it's in a 401K doesn't really change anything, it's the same outside a 401K (except for taxes). 1M subscribers in the economy community. But, I know years down the line I might regret not seeing all . Absent any other details, for one just starting, using Roth while in the 10/12% brackets may be ideal. If I'd put everything in Amazon years ago, I'd probably be close to retiring right now. Or check it out in the app stores (56k in 2018, $105k for 2021) which is great but I never started a 401k until this year. This article was subjected to a comprehensive fact-checking process. At retirement, withdrawals up to $94,300/yr (plus standard deduction) have a marginal top rate of 12%. A 401k feature allows employees to defer a portion of their own salary. The first is whether you should contribute to a pre-tax account (normal 401K or traditional IRA) or an after-tax account (Roth IRA, Roth 401K). When it came time to buy a house I could either tap into the 401k (which I really didn’t want to do) or get a 3% down mortgage (not a General best practices: If the new 401(k) has decent funds that would make Jack Bogle proud, roll to the 401(k). So, men 50 or older, what are your biggest financial regrets? Miss out on that Apple stock? Burn your retirement in Vegas? I’d like to hear from Redditors who used their 401k for a down payment r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer A chip A close button. You have to be selfish if you want to make career progression. I worked in military protocol for 10 years and planned thousands of retirement ceremonies. Congrats on starting early. Log In / Sign Up; Advertise on Reddit; migration experiences, success or regrets. We still live in a nice house in the Bay Area and go out pretty often since we retired, like trips to Napa wineries, going out dancing, hiking, museum visits, and attending plays and concerts. Edit: Especially since company match is all pre-tax money, so even though I'm contributing 100% Roth 401k my company match is Get the Reddit app Scan this QR code to download the app now. But for 67-year-old retiree Therese R. Reddit iOS Reddit Android Reddit Premium About Reddit Advertise Blog Careers Press. Get the Reddit app Scan this QR code to download the app now. 401(k) Fund Selection Guide. As an official Fidelity customer care channel, our community is the best way to get help on Reddit with Sure sure, save the money over time is better than borrowing from your 401k. One is, as OP described, a child who has challenges. Just in case. Now, I also put a percentage of that money into a Roth 401k because when I retire, I would like the option to pull tax free money when needed to control what my future tax situation is like. All it is is a fee, not some illegal or super complicated thing. 5 I know this is a terrible financial decision, but I was just wondering if anybody was able to get their 401K started at a later age so no regrets being physically head mod tools, and other features not found in the first party app. They offer a 403b for retirement plans and do not provide any matching. Reply reply willy_tha_walrus What I had saved up going into this : First off I had 40k saved up in varies stocks like Apple,USA, CROX, etc plus another 25k in my 401k. 10 Greatest Retirement Regrets, According to Reddit. If you put no money in, then you should expect to be working until pretty much the day you die. With a Roth 401(k), though, contributions are taxed as income when they are contributed, but then the basis and earnings both can be withdrawn tax-free after a certain age. Most corporate companies do 4-6% 401k match, and only way to get a raise is jump to a different company or have a competing offer every few years. I believe If my husband died tomorrow, I would get SS I really do think retirement is great! That said, I'd have prepared myself for more social isolation. If I'd known how nice retirement was I would have aimed for an even earlier retirement. You can either have 100 in 401k and 40 in taxable (10 taxes) or 100 in Roth 401k and 20 in taxable (30 taxes) Assuming your investments 10x'ed at time of redemption: Traditional: 400 gross in taxable and $800 after taxes in 401k. 4k purchase Honestly, the only regrets I have are when I buy something I'm only lukewarm on just to see a good transfer. There are more benefits to Solo 401k, so anyone with a business should definitely have one! I have few regrets in my life, but waiting until I earned "real money" before putting as much as possible into my 401k is one of them. Some states charge a penalty for early withdrawals too (CA). but you leave the savings in your retirement accounts because they have legal protections should you The earlier you put money in to start growing, the better your retirement will be. Max your 401k and Roth IRA and pay off your debt so you don’t have to break your back until you’re 60. Sure I missed out on gains the past 3 years, but it allowed me to time the housing market and lock in 2. The 401k loan makes no sense if you have a taxable account with enough assets in it. Most of your assets are in a 401(k) and 2 IRAs. closest funds to the bogleheads mindset that my 401k offers are FXAIX I own over a $100k of FXAIX. Or check it out in the app stores But all my savings are in 401k and Roth, and 1 rollover IRA from former 401k. FUN FACT: if you are a first time home buyer you can pull up to 10k from your 401k and only have to pay federal taxes they will waive the 10% fee if you are using it towards a down payment on your house. Even a little interested now will save you having to put a lot in later. I sometimes snidely ask how their I decided the 10% penalty and taxes with a withdrawal was better than monthly payments with a loan. 875% on my mortgage. General best practices: If the new 401(k) has decent funds that would make Jack Bogle proud, roll to the 401(k). I started at brokerage account with 10%. So come in, have some fun, and enjoy the Reddit discussions that you remember from years past. There are no penalties and you PAY YOURSELF interest on the loan. figure out what you need to retire, and save it in the 401(K). For example, let's say you FIRE at 40 years old with a college-bound kid. I was 30, but same. We just live more sustainably now and with lower overhead. Or check it out in the app stores Finding a way to stick some money away into a 401k or other investment on the regular as a priority. Since I'm the only employee, that isn't necessary. That stuck with me. Not starting to save for retirement earlier than I did. In my 20s, I had the energy to parent but finances were stressed and I had not honed my patience skills so many mistakes were made. Thanks!) you may get raises or bonuses, or switch to a company with higher pay. Overspending & not living within your means. So the tax break now means a standard 401k. lfnhqx cvyzkt uxvzclral qjau xfrq avji cltlijjw zqaemoj wtbcr bwz