401k and IRA Retirement Plans: Start Today!
Savings for retirement in a 401K plan is a very smart idea and you should begin making contributions as soon as possible. 401K retirement contributions are made through your employer so if you are self employed you should start an IRA or Individual Retirement Account. Employees make contributions directly from their salary and this money is not taxed. Make sure you follow all IRA rules and 401k rules, as they have some variances. The IRS actually came up with the name 401K as it was from the code that originally created the retirement funds.
Some of the advantages to having a 401K include the following, your company may match the amount your put into the 401K, you can make a lot of money if you invest for the long term for 20 to 30 years, you reduce the amount of taxes you have to pay based on your salary and all contributes are tax deferred unless they are withdrawn prior to age 59 and 1/2.
Additionally there are pension laws in place that protect the retirement account as it is viewed as a personal investment. You don’t have the guarantee against loss like you would with a fixed annuity. Though these laws are designed to help.
A few of the disadvantages are that you cannot access the money in your 401K until you are 59 1/2. If your employer does contribute to your 401K then only your contributions will be going towards your investment, like is the case with IRA accounts. Also a 401K is not insured by the Pension benefit guaranty corporation. Like is often the case with a fixed annuity.
There are many different investments you can make in your 401K. It is suggested that when starting you invest in stock but you can also invest in money market funds, bonds, maturities and more. You have control over your investments and can change your investments every time another contribution is made. Financial experts suggest being more aggressive when you’re younger and have a longer time horizon, as most individuals are too conservative. Towards the end of the 401K term you want to be a bit more selective, but to make money you need to invest in stocks. Stocks do very well when you are buying and selling in the long term.
There are rules for a 401K and they differ depending on your pay bracket. 401k rules state that you can make both before tax contributions and after tax contributions. There is a maximum before tax 401k limits and the money needs to be deposited in a specific amount of time, usually 7 days before the end of the month.
After-tax contributions have a different set of 401k or IRA rules and these funds can be easier to withdraw then pre-tax money. There are also additional rules for highly compensated employees and low-income employees. These laws were put into place so the top executives would not design a 401K that was only advantageous to them. The 401K from companies must be a good plan for the majority of the employees in the company. So highly compensated individuals actually have different rates.
It’s important to note that retirement accounts like IRA’s are individual accounts; so taking title is an easy choice. When evaluating your other accounts, especially joint ownership accounts, you should take a look at the many choices. It may be more beneficial to set up a joint tenancy or tenants in common account rather than a community property account, for example. The simple act of setting up title can have big implications.
An IRA account is also a retirement account but it is slightly different then a 401K. It is possible to take money out of an IRA account without penalties to pay for a house, education or medical expenses. These come with certain IRA limits, however. Make sure you understand both the IRA and Roth IRA rules before making a choice. The traditional IRA benefit is the IRA deduction where as the Roth IRA is the tax free income upon withdrawal. Since the IRA is an individual retirement account and you do not receive matching contributions from your employer.
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