Kcinnick
Dryer sheet wannabe
My 401k plan is pretty bad at SuperMegaCorp. There is no match, but they do put in a percentage of my Salary based on SuperMegaCorps performance each year, this year was 4%. The investment choices are rather poor, but it is free money after all. I do not put any additional resources into my 401k.
My wife has a pretty good 401k and has a company 401k match up to 6% at NotSoMegaCorp. She puts 6% in her 401k. She has access to Vanguard funds that have even lower expense ratios than what is stated on their website for investor class funds.
Problem is she only works part time and makes 25k-30k a year. I work full time + and make 60k-80k a year.
I also have a Health savings account with a 1-1 company match up to 50% of the deductible, after that there is no match. I max this out but do not consider it in my FIRED funds at this point in my life. I am 27 and the account is fairly young and could be wiped out with a couple of large medical expenses. Hopefully nothing happens and I will be able to use this as another tax deffered savings account but for now I treat it as a health insurance expense.
I also dabble in both of our Company stock purchase plans. I don't spend too much money on them but if the market is right they can be very profitable. Basically with hers you can decide on the last day of the quarter if you want to buy the stock at the first day of the quarter price X .85. If the stock went up that quarter it is a no brainer!
We have focused on reducing debt the past few years instead of saving money but we are ready to start sacking away cash. The last major hurdle is my truck and we want to refinance the house. The goal is to have both these tasks accomplished by March 2011. At that point we will be able to save atleast 2k a month, if not more.
(I hope for $2500 a month, plus my bonuses)
For now I want to start a Roth IRA. I was looking at Vanguard since they have the lowest fees in the industry, however they have a minimum investment of 3k. I am not as familiar with the Fidelity funds, but they will wave the minimum requirement if you set up automatic payments. I like this set up because I can just have them take $400 a month out of my checking account, almost like set it and forget it (Not likely to forget it) I do have the ability to write the check to open the Vanguard account today, it would cut into my 3-6 months of expenses savings, but I would still have a cushion.
Any recommendations either way. What funds do you recommend? I currently try to balance long term savings with 80% stocks, 20% cash/bonds.
My current plan is to step into a different field around 37-40 to work less, current norm is a 13 hour day! My goal is to have 500k-750k to do this. The day I hit 750k I will not be at SuperMegaCorp, but I will need at minimum 500k to do this. Even without any additional contributions, If I have 500k at 37 and I do not touch it until 50 I should be able to FIRE comfortably. Numbers will work out better at 750k! (Looking at 1.4m to 2m)
My wife has a pretty good 401k and has a company 401k match up to 6% at NotSoMegaCorp. She puts 6% in her 401k. She has access to Vanguard funds that have even lower expense ratios than what is stated on their website for investor class funds.
Problem is she only works part time and makes 25k-30k a year. I work full time + and make 60k-80k a year.
I also have a Health savings account with a 1-1 company match up to 50% of the deductible, after that there is no match. I max this out but do not consider it in my FIRED funds at this point in my life. I am 27 and the account is fairly young and could be wiped out with a couple of large medical expenses. Hopefully nothing happens and I will be able to use this as another tax deffered savings account but for now I treat it as a health insurance expense.
I also dabble in both of our Company stock purchase plans. I don't spend too much money on them but if the market is right they can be very profitable. Basically with hers you can decide on the last day of the quarter if you want to buy the stock at the first day of the quarter price X .85. If the stock went up that quarter it is a no brainer!
We have focused on reducing debt the past few years instead of saving money but we are ready to start sacking away cash. The last major hurdle is my truck and we want to refinance the house. The goal is to have both these tasks accomplished by March 2011. At that point we will be able to save atleast 2k a month, if not more.
(I hope for $2500 a month, plus my bonuses)
For now I want to start a Roth IRA. I was looking at Vanguard since they have the lowest fees in the industry, however they have a minimum investment of 3k. I am not as familiar with the Fidelity funds, but they will wave the minimum requirement if you set up automatic payments. I like this set up because I can just have them take $400 a month out of my checking account, almost like set it and forget it (Not likely to forget it) I do have the ability to write the check to open the Vanguard account today, it would cut into my 3-6 months of expenses savings, but I would still have a cushion.
Any recommendations either way. What funds do you recommend? I currently try to balance long term savings with 80% stocks, 20% cash/bonds.
My current plan is to step into a different field around 37-40 to work less, current norm is a 13 hour day! My goal is to have 500k-750k to do this. The day I hit 750k I will not be at SuperMegaCorp, but I will need at minimum 500k to do this. Even without any additional contributions, If I have 500k at 37 and I do not touch it until 50 I should be able to FIRE comfortably. Numbers will work out better at 750k! (Looking at 1.4m to 2m)