Some general guidelines I would recommend: Start early! Some people begin to get serious retirement way too late. In your 20s is a better time. If you have a 401k/403b offered, especially if organization has employer matching, max it out. Start a Roth IRA and contribute the maximum. Automatic investment plans make contributing the maximum quick and easy, so sign up for them. If you've maximized your retirement vehicles, you may need to start looking at other ways to sock away funds (e.g., annuities), but there is no need to bother until the aforementioned is met. Read everything you can on the topic. There are some decent books on the topic and plenty of material online. Don't raid your retirement funds unless you absolutely, positively, have no choice otherwise. I hope that helps. If we can help with specific questions, ask away.
JR, you are deffinately a go to person with a lot of great information. They younger you are, the more aggressive you can be with stock options.
Thanks for all the insights guys. I am very immature when it comes to talk about all of this. I never new anything about IRAs or 401Ks and such, so i'll try to keep up with the lessons Mr. JR's giving here. I am 37 and just now even hearing anything like this, but I do have kids that I can teach it to so that's a plus for me! At least in 40 years one of them can make millionaire status!
I really think that high schools (and of course universities and trade schools) should teach these things. There should be at least one required course at least 3-6 months long that teaches the fundamentals of personal finance, retirement planning, basic business and investing fundamentals, etc. Some of the better personal finance books that teach things like wise investing for retirement and frugal living during working years should be required reading for every high school senior IMO.
+1 to that. I was fortunate that my high school personal finance class had a section that focused on mutual funds. My father also taught me quite a bit on the topic too. However, agreed, all schools should go over the basics of personal finance, investing, retirement planning, et al.
All beginners should get advice and do some extra research before making any decisions about 401K plans. Don't make any hasty decisions. This will help you see the importance of the it and why you shouldn't borrow against it. Take it slow and steady.
Yeah, but why not learn this at school? We are taught so many useless stuff, that learn how to make our money grow would be something great for a change.
