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Today is the first post, in a series of posts, where I’ll be reviewing the functionality of 6 financial calculators. I will explain, in plain language, how each of these calculators works and how to integrate the results of each, into your personalized ‘down home’ financial plan.

As promised, I will be creating a lot of hypothetical scenarios to use as references, too. I will also be adding more calculators as time goes by.

Roth IRA v Traditional IRA Calculator

The purpose of this Roth IRA calculator is to figure out which type of IRA is best for you. Now, as you may know, I’m a big fan of the Roth IRA and tend to favor it over a traditional IRA. Below is a screen shot where I’ve inputed some data and calculated the results…

Continue Reading “Roth IRA vs Traditional IRA - Calculator Explained”

The way it is right now, your regular IRA and 401K monies are all growing in tax deferred accounts.

But when its time to take the money out you will be taxed at your future tax bracket on every cent of that distribution; distributions from a traditional IRA are treated as ordinary income.

That’s a bitter sweet pill to swallow after making IRA contributions and doing the right thing for so many years.

Continue Reading “Future tax rates are where?”

I’m sorry if I kept you on the hook from the last post… I was only trying to be dramatic in order to make a point.

There isn’t a magic account that few know about… that’s rarely the case in finance. There aren’t many new things, in fact, just the same time tested ideas packaged differently.

BUT… An exception to that statement is the Roth IRA; letting Americans take their IRA monies out TAX FREE was a wonderful NEW idea.

Continue Reading “Fuggetta ‘Bout It - A Winning Investment Psychology”

I’ve dedicated a lot of time to the Roth IRA and referenced the traditional (or regular IRA) many times… its about time I took a closer look at the traditional IRA. Individual Retirement Accounts are primarily self directed savings and investment accounts, as opposed to employee benefit plans.

IRA contributions

Anyone who has earned income and has not reached age 70 1/2 may make contributions to an IRA. If a husband and wife both have earned income of $4,000 or more, both can contribute up to $4,000 to an IRA. If one spouse is working and the other is not, as long as the total earned income is above $8,000, the working spouse may contribute up to $4,000 on behalf of the non working spouse.

Continue Reading “Tenets of a Traditional IRA”

Before I write many of these posts I do alot of reading in advance. I do this to bring myself up to speed on the topic at hand or to brainstorm new ideas or to find useful tidbits that I hope are interesting and relevant, etc.

These days, like most everyone else, I use the internet when I want information.

When it comes to financial planning, retirement planning, IRA’s (both Roth and Traditional) there’s quite a bit of good information on the web… but it takes a while to find exactly what you’re looking for, its like going on a virtual scavenger hunt.

Continue Reading “What I’m seeing out there”

I have made a lot of references so far to the mighty Roth IRA. I’ve stated before that the advent of the Roth IRA is one of the most beneficial pieces of legislation to ever come out of Washington D.C.

In my mind, Uncle Sam has given the American public a gift here, its time to take that ball and run with it, especially those of you in your 30’s and 40’s.

Because of the importance of the Roth IRA I plan on covering it thoroughly here… probably over the course of many many many posts. Lets start with the basics…

What is a Roth IRA?

Continue Reading “What is a Roth IRA? and Why You Need To Own One”