I do 10%, but that's because I'm paying off debt right now. Once the debt is paid, I'm bumping it to 15% at least.

I've got 50% of it in a 40 year target fund, 25% in global growth, and 25% in an agressive growth fund.

1/17/2007 10:42:41 AM

$15000/year

1/17/2007 10:54:42 AM

I contribute 25%

50% in Aggressive Life Strategy, 30% large cap, 20% large growth

I'd put 100% int the Aggressive Life Strategy, but it's too damn conservative (15% bonds)
I've got some riskier small/mid cap funds in my Roth.



[Edited on January 17, 2007 at 11:36 AM. Reason : %]

1/17/2007 11:30:26 AM

5%, company matches 4% of it, i max out my Roth IRA

I intentionally don't overload my 401k so I don't build a tax bomb for later in life

1/17/2007 12:03:33 PM

Tax bomb?

1/17/2007 12:14:40 PM

8% post-tax, so with the company match, 12%

1/17/2007 12:37:08 PM

8% to an aggressive account

1/17/2007 2:26:29 PM

my company doesn't match

1/17/2007 2:55:43 PM

4% now

8% when i'm eligible for the 8% company match... which i should check up on

1/17/2007 4:04:10 PM

I have a Pension

1/17/2007 4:20:10 PM

So if I put some more in an IRA, it won't be taxed later...unlike a 401k which will be taxed later?

Am I getting that right?

1/17/2007 4:20:13 PM

If it's a Roth IRA

1/17/2007 4:21:21 PM

anyone under ~35 should put everything they can in aggressive growth funds

play the cycles

1/17/2007 4:41:03 PM

Don't value funds outperform growth funds over the long run?

1/17/2007 4:52:20 PM

sorry i didnt mean for the entirety of your life, but if you're young why play safe? you'll have plenty of time to recover given the positive and cyclical nature of the market

1/17/2007 5:15:57 PM

I'm not saying play it safe, I just don't see why you would invest all your money in growth funds when it was my belief that value funds outperform growth funds. At the very least I would be diversified.

1/17/2007 5:20:30 PM

I was putting in 18% until recently (company also matches 4% on my 1st 5%).

Anyway I have been reading Dave Ramsey's book and he preaches to put in a 401k up to the max company match, then max out a Roth, then go back to the 401k. I am going to follow his advice once I work out the numbers on the current Roths I already have.

So in my case it would be something like

5% in a 401k

Whatever percent to max out my Roth contribution (pull a number out my head for now say 8%)

The last 5% of my 18% back into my 401k. So essentially 10% 401k, 8% Roth.







[Edited on January 17, 2007 at 6:14 PM. Reason : l]

1/17/2007 6:12:26 PM

^^ The benefit to that is more investment options in the IRA than in the 401(k). Typically better options. So youshould take as much from the company as you can, then go to the other vehicle to maximize the quality of your investments and put any leftover you have into the 401(k) after maxing out the IRA.

Since you are covered by the company benefits you cannot deduct IRA contributions so you might as well use the Roth and reduce your future tax burden as well.

[Edited on January 17, 2007 at 6:23 PM. Reason : roth]

1/17/2007 6:22:09 PM

Was that directed towards me?

1/17/2007 6:42:32 PM

I was just expanding on the previous post...nothing meant by it at all

1/17/2007 6:57:47 PM

Ah, ok. The arrows threw me off.

1/17/2007 7:04:25 PM

i put 8% into the 401k and the company puts in 6% so 14% total right now (slowing bumping it up until its at a comfortable level)

maxing the roth for 2006 & 2007

my financial advisor advised me to contribute AT LEAST the company match in the 401k and to max out the roth as often as possible. also the 3-6 months of bills in savings in a money market everything else can go back into the 401k

1/17/2007 7:15:35 PM

There are financial tools online which can help you predict how well your retirement portfolio will grow based on the diversity and riskiness of it. I like to look more at what I want out of a return, more than how much of a fixed percentage I need to put in.

With my current contributions:
-Assuming a (modest) 2% salary increase
-Retiring at age 65
-Living till age 95
-And a modest to high return

I'll withdraw somewhere between $100k-$200k after taxes per year in retirement, plus whatever social security gives me (if its still around). Not that TWW is the greatest source of accurate or good financial information, but there ARE good tools out there that can help you out. That way, you can ask intelligent questions if/when you seek out a professional financial advisor.

1/17/2007 7:38:13 PM

I pay the federal limit, or about 14% of my salary. My company doesn't match until my 3rd year, and I think it's 5%.

1/17/2007 8:51:51 PM

I do 6% + company match is 6% for 12% total plus a pension. I don't do any other investing right now. Too damn difficult with student loans, car, house, wife who stays at home with the kid, and medical bills paying off the kid from the crappy insurance that changed to crap just before we had the kid.

1/17/2007 10:32:42 PM

im pensioned, i contributed 15k/yr and max out a roth.

another 10k/yr in stocks and other investments

this nigga tryin to front end load that shit up hard for compounding interest to take full effect and i can retire before i start pissing the bed

1/17/2007 10:42:19 PM

Quote :

"im pensioned, i contributed 15k/yr and max out a roth. another 10k/yr in stocks and other investments this nigga tryin to front end load that shit up hard for compounding interest to take full effect and i can retire before i start pissing the bed"

FTW! As soon as I am eligible for 401k in a few months, that's about what my plans will be.

[Edited on January 17, 2007 at 10:46 PM. Reason : ]

1/17/2007 10:46:32 PM

15% + the company matches 5%

50% in G funds and 50% in C funds, whatever the hell that means

1/17/2007 11:20:48 PM

i have a pension too but i'm not considering that part of my retirement plan, if i get it... sweetness, if not, i never planned on it anyway

you just never know with pensions anymore, imo

1/18/2007 12:12:00 AM

I'm hoping to kick mine off soon, company'll match 50% of my first 8%, so I figure at least that much to start it

1/18/2007 12:58:20 AM

My pension got cut before I even started work.

1/18/2007 1:55:38 AM

You should be happy. Pensions blow.

1/18/2007 7:45:07 AM

9%, company matches equivalent to $0.72 per $1.

I'm about to start a Roth as well

1/18/2007 9:04:28 AM

Right now. 6% company matches 3% plus stock options and bonus of about 4% per year. Total around 13%.
Very close to maxing out limit of 15k.

Plus I have a fair amount going into short term funds for future house purchase.

Also, I purchase 10% of my salary in company stock(after-tax) at a 15% discount, with NO vesting period.

1/18/2007 9:24:04 AM

i only put in about 1%...thats all i can contribute to keep under the 15k limit.

1/18/2007 9:43:05 AM

I max out baby 15%

1/18/2007 9:58:21 AM

^^So you make 1.5 Million each year. Wtf are you doing on tww?

if I banked 1.5 mil I'd be jet settin' in my new gulf stream with 5 bitches right about now. Sure as hell wouldn't be sitting on my computer enough to make over 40k posts.

[Edited on January 18, 2007 at 11:00 AM. Reason : and what do you do? -- if you don't mind me asking.]

[Edited on January 18, 2007 at 11:05 AM. Reason : .]

1/18/2007 10:59:38 AM

and you make 120k?

1/18/2007 11:09:41 AM

Shouldn't it be 150K since you don't count the company match towards the limit?

1/18/2007 11:15:00 AM

No. 90k if you must know--I said close.
Guess I should have calculated that out for you. My company won't match over 6% so I stop there.
Then explained why I wasn't actually maxing out.

But adjust for cost of living in DC and it's probably equivalent to around 70k in RDU.
A decent house, comparable to places in Raleigh, cost over 800K in the exclusive neighborhoods of Rockville. Foget about McLean, Bethesda, Great Falls, and Potomac.. 1M+

[Edited on January 18, 2007 at 11:23 AM. Reason : ^ you do count the company match.]

1/18/2007 11:22:30 AM

No you don't.

1/18/2007 11:24:04 AM

hmmm....

ahhh. the "total" contribution limit is 45k. 15k is the pre-tax limit and only counts from your wages.

my bad.

[Edited on January 18, 2007 at 11:33 AM. Reason : .]
and you are right it should be higher than 120k but actually it would need to be 250k

[Edited on January 18, 2007 at 11:44 AM. Reason : .]

1/18/2007 11:24:49 AM

Quote :

"So if I put some more in an IRA, it won't be taxed later...unlike a 401k which will be taxed later?"

yes. you get taxed on 100% of your 401k whereas you'll only be taxed on the earnings in your Roth IRA.

Here's an example:
Person 1 & Person 2 both need 100,000 a year taken out from their retirement accounts.

Person 1 takes 100,000 from his 401k. He'll be taxed for 100,000.

Person 2 takes 50,000 from his Roth IRA (20,000 of which was from earnings) and 50,000 from his 401k. He'll only be taxed for 70,000 (lower tax bracket).

1/18/2007 12:18:50 PM

You're wrong too.

1/18/2007 12:20:54 PM

Quote :

"you'll only be taxed on the earnings in your Roth IRA. "

no...thats the beauty of a Roth.

1/18/2007 12:32:04 PM

Exactly. If you were taxed on the earnings then what the fuck would be the benefit.

1/18/2007 12:36:20 PM

Quote :

"yes. you get taxed on 100% of your 401k whereas you'll only be taxed on the earnings in your Roth IRA. "

Wrong.

401k is funded with PRE-TAX dollars, and grows tax free, after which you pay taxes upon retirement. There are ways to soften the tax hit though.

Roth IRA is funded with after-tax money, grows tax-free, and are not taxed any further when you cash it after retirement.

The advantage of one over the other depends on whether your tax liability is greater now or later. Both are highly advantaged over investing for retirement in the general stock market, as you'll pay taxes for every transaction, which greatly reduce your gains over the long haul.

1/18/2007 1:03:46 PM

I'll be doing the federal limit on both 401k and Roth. Any extra $$ will be spent on bar tabs.

1/18/2007 1:24:47 PM

5%, and my company matches up to 5%

and i just started...i'm really excited about it being "grown up" is cool, haha

1/18/2007 4:34:55 PM

Quote :

"You should be happy. Pensions blow."

Wtf sense does that make? We're talking about workers here, not corporations.

Let somebody else take the risk.

[Edited on January 18, 2007 at 4:44 PM. Reason : ?]

1/18/2007 4:42:41 PM