Speak to a financial professional about this. Depending on the income that you will be living off of, you may or may not be able to contribute to IRAs. Additionally, your taxes will be out of whack for a year or two while you adjust to your new income streams, and you should have a knowledgeable tax advisor walk you…

A 401(k) custodian's duty is almost always to the plan sponsor, the employer. Unless you as a participant have an additional underlying fiduciary contract with the custodian directly, they have absolutely no ethical reason to treat you as anything but a sales client, buying mutual funds for commission and/or fee…

This post is very odd to find on Lifehacker of all places. I'm not exactly sure what to make of it, but it's obvious to me the author didn't put any effort into researching this at all.

Oh, Dilbert's Scott Adams! That's great, I remember when he used to post gems like this on his public blog:

...as long as you squint hard...

To be clear, this is not what this article or conversation is about. Your A scenario posits having an incomplete emergency fund, because if you invest your Roth IRA in stock index funds it is NOT an emergency fund. So in this case, you are sacrificing one priority (a complete emergency fund) for another (retirement…

Yes, invest it all in SPDRs... a little closer now... wait, where are you going? Think of the diversification! I can help improve your asset allocation, I promise!

While I applaud your obvious tactical skills, I must question why you have excluded Bitcoin from your otherwise flawless plan.

Many (but not all) brokerage IRAs will assess a small annual fee due to the mandatory IRS reporting requirement for custodians on retirement accounts. Most often it is $20-$35, but that's potentially more than half a percentage point of a $5,500 contribution, right off the top and every year.

You... DO know that Reagan had backdoor dealings with the Iranian government before he was elected, the same channels that led to the arms deal in Nicaragua? Oliver North? Any of this ringing a bell? Do you kids even bother LEARNING history anymore?

Use the backdoor method! Make a traditional IRA contribution, even if it isn't fully deductible. Then, convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

The official IRS guideline is as follows (from this link):

If you make a Roth or traditional IRA contribution that you weren't supposed to, you simply need to make a "return of excess contribution" withdrawal at the time you file your taxes, no penalties involved. There is a calculation that also removes whatever earnings can be attributed to the amount of the excess…

I understand what you're saying, but maybe I can use some numbers for illustration in order to express my viewpoint here. For example, say your household has $4,000 of monthly expenses. For an emergency fund, you decide you want at least six months covered, or $24,000. To do this, you need to make more than four…

That's the key, right there. Aside from emergency savings, retirement should be your number one priority. If you have to make a choice between saving for retirement and almost anything else, retirement should always win out because it WILL happen if you stay alive long enough.

Take it from this financial and tax professional, you can make your contribution at any time, even on January 1st. The rule is completely unambiguous about it.

That's completely understandable. There are a few additional things that you didn't mention that may help your decision, though. You can use a 529 for more than tuition, i.e. fees, books, supplies, computers, and equipment are all valid uses for those funds that are often not provided for by scholarships or…

Sorry, but you are wrong about this. You can make your contribution at any time of the year, as long as by the end of the year your income allows you to make the contribution. The evaluation is made retrospectively, at the time you file your taxes.

Technically, your principal in a Roth IRA is always available for withdrawal, with no taxes or penalties assessed. Earnings and conversion amounts are subject to withdrawal limits, including the 5-year rule. This still doesn't change the fact that even though you CAN access your principal, doesn't mean you SHOULD do…

The evaluation of your maximum contribution is made when you file your taxes, after you income is earned. If you make a contribution and then you find out later that you were not eligible (too little/too much earned income), then you just have to make a return of excess contribution withdrawal, no biggie.