IRA or 401k? Is it too late?

When I realized I would be earning too much this year to qualify for a Roth IRA, I cried a little bit. Ok, that's overly dramatic, but I have been so proud of myself for saving my pennies each year of my $20k to $50k / year income to max out my Roth IRA that I felt a little empty knowing my savings this year could not be invested in tax-free growth.

So I thought I'd do the second-best thing... open a traditional IRA and deduct the money now, pay taxes on it later. Not the best option in the world, but at least I'd get to deduct the money from my rather high single tax rate.

This morning I found out that I was completely wrong about that. I admit it's my fault for not doing my research appropriately, but now I'm totally bummed. Apparently the income you're allowed to have to get the benefits of a traditional IRA is LOWER than that of a Roth IRA. This makes absolutely no sense to me right now because why would anyone want to invest in a traditional IRA if you are in a low-ish tax bracket?

I guess if you do not have a retirement plan at work you are allowed to deduct up to $5k for your traditional IRA in each tax year. Funny how this is the first year of my life I will have access to a retirement plan... a 401k (no match or anything, of course, god forbid I work for a company that would match my contributions.) I signed up for it, and I am supposed to start making contributions in mid July. I wanted to max out my 401k and my IRA for the maximum deduction to reduce my AGI. But it looks like that's not happening.

The only reason I can see a traditional IRA having some benefit is that I think I can still put up to $5k in there each year and $16.5k into the 401k and later, when I'm not making a lot of money over the year, I can convert both of those accounts to a Roth IRA and pay taxes in a lower tax bracket. Given that I obviously don't understand tax law very well, I may be off on this logic as well. At least then I can see why a traditional IRA has some value. But as this conversion thing is fairly new - why would anyone want to open a traditional IRA? Is there ever a good reason for this?

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Shooting Through My Glass Ceilings

This year has been full of fiscal ups and downs. After making a solid salary at a full-time job, I was laid off in February and ended up picking up part-time gigs which, while paying great by the hour, didn't cover enough hours to meet my prior salary. And then I interviewed for a bunch of jobs and got a few offers. In the end, I landed a six-month contract with very strong hourly pay.

It's almost funny how just a year ago I was writing about how what I was making then would give me so much extra to save, and then I quickly found that I while I had money to save, the cost of doctor's bills and life kept my savings per month low. And now, looking at the next few months of income, I'm more excited than ever about helping my networth move out of being stuck in $35k. My goal, by the end of 2010, was to have a networth of $50k. Now, I'm aiming for $75k.

What will that take? Mostly, being amazing at my job, which I plan to do. Also, I can't look at the number I'm taking home and get as much out of my bank account into savings accounts before I have a chance to get near a mall or travel website.

I'm not going to complain about how much I will make because I'm thrilled that I'll be able to save for grad school and a house (MBA, here I come), but it makes savings a lot more complicated. I don't know how many of you can relate because there's a chance this year I'll hit six figures. I'm not sure it will happen -- I will only really know for sure next winter. It's certainly possible for the first time in my life.

With that type of income I move out of the average American household and hit what many people in America would consider rich for a single person. In the least, there's a chance I will make over the limits for a Roth IRA. For the past five years my Roth IRA has been my primary retirement savings vehicle. I'm not really sure where else to save money for retirement. I might be able to set up a 401k but it's going to be kind of messy to do that since I'm a contractor. None of the companies I've worked for in the past have had 401k funds, so if I am able to participate, even without a match (there won't be a match), I will. I probably should put a good amount of my monthly income into a 401k if I can open one. I can always max out my Roth IRA at the end of 2010 if I don't end up making the higher end of my potential earnings. Or a traditional IRA if that makes more sense. I also may put a lot more into my 529 plan for grad school, though I'm nervous about putting too much in that account as there's a chance I'll never end up going to grad school. I do want to have children, so I'd like to think if I don't spend my 529 plan for me, I can pass it on to my children one day. But that's a long time off, it's tough to put more than $100/month in that account without worrying about wasting money on that account. I can always take it out for something else, but I'll have to pay a fine. And in my state the money put into that account is only tax deductible on the federal level, not state. Still, it's probably worth it this year to put a larger amount than normal in that account, since I may not have access to a Roth IRA.

It is hard to plan when the amount you may make over the year is not set in stone. On one hand, it's kind of exciting. It makes me want to work extra hard to prove myself and earn as much as possible. As I grow in my career, my blog title becomes more and more misleading. I'm not going to be overconfident with this as so much is up in the air. When I'm 10 years out of undergrad (in 2015) I will write a post on how my income fluctuated over the years. I'd love to know what will be in that post, but I like being surprised by life too.

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Is Grad School Worth It? Financially Speaking.

I've been obsessed with the idea of applying to / going to grad school lately. Not for the earning potential post graduation, but for the chance to focus on an area of study and build up my skills so I feel like an expert in an area (at least until those skills are out of date.) But then I wonder... financially speaking, is grad school worth it?

Really what I need to look at is how much I will have when I retire. I figure I should have at least $1.5M in my bank account when I "retire" (although I plan to work at least part-time well into retirement, but at this point I want to be able to travel and freelance and not have to worry if I get sick and can't work.)

At the moment, if I can live up to my quasi-frugal savings plans for the year and maintain my current job and occasional freelance income (say $70k per year pre tax) and save $20k each year, according to the compound interest calculator if I start with $30k today and save $20k a year for 30 years at a modest average interest rate of 3% I will have $1.052M in savings by the time I'm 56 and $1.65M by the time I'm 66.

It almost seems silly then to add in the cost of grad school, which will put me into debt and for many reasons, not guarantee I will make more than I am now later and certainly will not allow me to comfortably save $20k anytime during or after graduation from a graduate program.

Additionally, if/when I have children, it will also become increasingly difficult to save $20k per year, if not impossible. This variable could effect both the non-grad school and grad school potential scenarios. And since my 27-year-old boyfriend refuses to work a full time job or put an ounce of his occasional earnings into a Roth IRA, it's likely that I'm saving for the both of us and our families. Which makes that $1.65M, esp with inflation, seem like a few dimes and a penny.

That brings me to wondering if I should just keep living like I'm living now for the rest of my life. No kids (they're expensive.) Roommates. A small room. Living in an area where heat isn't necessary. Cheap bills otherwise. Saving $20k per year. Cutting back when needed to make that possible. Retiring single at 66 with $1.65M (some of it would be taxed, of course, but that's still not bad.)

Then again... why should I be living life to save for retirement? I can't imagine ever wanting to fully retire -- I see my grandmother at 80 spending her days in the casino and I think if I had the mental capacity she does at 80 I'd be working. I might be limited in my job choices but still, I'd be working because I don't want to be the type who just sits around and "enjoys" retirement.

Going to grad school is probably an easier choice when you're making $35k or less. But once you're making $70k it's a hard trade in. I'm looking more and more at MBA programs (my career counselor seems to decided that I should consider this path and is in awe of my knowledge of social networking and certain aspects of the tech business) but I don't know. I don't see myself ever really following an MBA path -- working 100 hours a week, traveling more than I'm staying... I could do that maybe for a few years but not my whole life. How much more can I really earn with an MBA vs. 2 more years of experience that I can gain through my current or next job? Alas, these days I'm liking numbers a lot more than I used to... and I think I'd like studying applied math. I like spreadsheets.

The debt truly freaks me out. People go into debt all the time for school but I don't know if I can. Partially its because I don't know if it will actually be worth it for me to go to grad school. It would probably make more sense to give a loan to someone more focused than I am and more dedicated to getting a high salary, pay for THEIR grad school, and earn interest on that... then for me to go to grad school.

And, anyway, I read that in 25 years a dollar today will be worth $.32 which means that my $1.65M when I'm 66 will not be enough to get me through retirement (unless natural causes like stabbing myself help me reach those goals.)

How much are you saving for retirement? How much do you think we will need to retire in 2050?

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How much should I save and where should I put it?

Lots of my readers think I'm a spoiled brat with a spending addiction, and occasionally I get a comment along those lines. Part of the reason I started this blog is that I agree with that statement and I'm trying to be smarter about my finances. Without the PF world I probably would be in debt by now instead of having $45k in savings. Yes, I have a shopping addiction. Yes, I need to stop making excuses for buying expensive clothes. Yes, I need to focus on saving more. But my biggest problem is not knowing where to save. It's not the best excuse, but it's true.

I can easily put away $5k per year in my Roth IRA because I always save up that much the year before (I overestimate on my taxes and pretend that money doesn't exist) but beyond that I am not sure where to put my savings. Spending the money is, sadly, a lot easier than figuring that out. Again, an excuse, but I really don't know where to put my money. With no 401k at work, I'm not sure where I should save. Do any of you have ideas for me?

I have some automatic transfers set up. $100 / month to ING Direct liquid emergency fund, $50 / month to Sharebuilder, $50 / month to my 529 plan. I'm not really sure how to save for retirement beyond my 401k or if I even should be saving more than that right now specifically for retirement. If I could figure out HOW MUCH I should be saving and WHERE I should be saving it, believe me, it would be a lot easier to save it.

My current accounts...

Checking: $375
Basic Savings Account: $301
CD / Emergency Fund: $8,073.49
ING Direct Savings / Liquid Emergency Fund: $3000
PayPal: $70

Roth IRA: $14,482
Sharebuilder Stocks & ETFs: $9,801.43
Vanguard Index Fund: $4113.69
Vanguard 529 College Plan: $890.44
Lending Club: $555.95
Prosper: $233.10
HSA: $1000

Where on earth should I be putting my savings and how much should I really try to save each year?

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Roth IRA: Just Maxed Out 2008, down $5000

Today, I put the last $300 into my Roth IRA for 2008. It feels rewarding to know that I'm saving for my future, yet the $5000 in losses to my Vanguard Portfolio due to current economic conditions isn't exactly a fun "reward" to look at in my accounts.

Still, I'm investing with the hope... and faith... that the economy will recover again. I think it will, eventually, but it's going to take a while. Had I followed my faith a year ago that the stock market was going to keep tanking, I would have possibly shorted some stocks and cold have been much better off now... but I don't have time, or the heart, to deal with such "high risk" behavior. Instead, I put my money in the stock market, knowing it's going to tank now, hoping it will rise in the future.

The question I have now is when do I invest in my Roth for 2009? Usually I put a large chunk of money in up front (money left over from taxes). By "usually" I mean over the last two years, since that's how long the account has been open. I like to just get it out-of-sight, out-of-mind before I start thinking of myself as wealthy enough for luxuries. The stock market seems pretty bad right now, so I'm not too worried about adding another few thousand once I get my tax return back. Still, this all begs the question whether I should spread out my investments ($440 a month) or put a bunch in up front and finish up over the later half of the year (like I've been doing.) Dollar cost averaging is always the recommended way to go... but, eh, when the market is this down, maybe it doesn't matter as much?

Also, as far as retirement savings go, I decided to do the HSA for my healthcare. In addition to my company putting $100 in the account per month, I'll be putting $100 in. So that'll be $2400/year for healthcare *or* retirement. I'm just worried my frugal save-for-retirement self will avoid doctors in order to save for my retirement, and I'll end up killing myself slowly in the meantime. (Not that I ever go to doctors, even when I have full insurance, I'm too lazy and busy). In any case, the savings rate for the HSA is so sucky - 2.1 or something - and w/ the taxes in California taken out of that it isn't a huge savings. But I'm going to look at it as a traditional IRA that's being overtaxed by my bankrupt state. One that I can dip into if I need to go to the doctor for antibiotics every once in a while.

The HSA does have the option to invest with Ameritrade, so I'm probably going to look into setting that up soon. I won't put all the money in stocks, but I'd like to diversify my retirement portfolio outside of Vanguard and I do want to get some Gold/Silver ETFs in it... since they don't get taxed at the ridiculous collection tax rate if they're in an IRA. Well, I don't know how that works in an HSA... esp since it doesn't get taxed federally but it does get taxed in CA. Hmm.

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After Maxing Out an IRA, Where Should Retirement Savings Go?

This year, I'm going to be making at least $60k. Which is wonderful. I plan on saving as much of that money as I can. The question is where to save.

2009 is an interesting year to have the opportunity to put away a chunk of money. With the stock market down, it seems like a great time to start making consistent, monthly long-term investments in the stock market. But without a 401(k), where do I put all of my savings? It's surely a luxury to be able to ask this question, but one that I have to start thinking about nonetheless.

There's also the real possibility that even if I do an amazing job at work in 2009, my startup will not receive funding to go on in 2010. Thus, I have to plan for unemployment at some point, just in case. The good news is that if I do a good job and the company goes under, god forbid, i'll have a really solid network of references to help me find my next opportunity. So my only concern here is making sure I do an amazing job over the coming months. That's just about the only thing I need to do for this situation to turn out positively.

But the question remains, where do I put this savings? It's so hard to find answers to this question because most people say "max out your 401(k) first and then max out your Roth." Well, what if you don't have a 401(k)? Then where does your money go?

There are a lot of options. I'm not sure, from a tax perspective, which are the right options for me. And maybe the tax savings isn't something I should be concerned about? Savings, in general, is a good thing.

So... a few other factors play in to the equation. I'm pretty sure I want to go to grad school in a few years. I've decided I likely want to go for an MBA, hopefully at a fairly good school. I'm not sure when I'm going to do this exactly. But I know I need one to become a product manager, which is my goal right now. There is always a chance I won't end up going to grad school, but it's looking more and more likely as I advance my career and figure out my long-term goals.

There's the possiblity that I will move with my boyfriend to New York or wherever he goes to grad school (which is even more of a definite than my potential grad school experience) and have to find a new job. NY is a super expensive city, obviously, so having a solid emergency fund will be vital. I already have an emergency fund of $7k, but I'd like to grow it if I'm going to be moving to NY.

Assuming I can put away $10,000 for the year, where do I put it?

$5000 goes into the Roth IRA.

Then, where does the rest of it go???

Some options that I know of:

1. Mutual funds. No tax help there. Taxed going in and coming out.

2. An HSA. Which still has a limit of $2,900 a year. And my company would put in $1,200 a year. So that's only $1,700 more on top of the $5000 in the Roth.

3. An 529 education savings fund. The problem with that is if I don't go to grad school and/or have kids who go to college, I lose the money.

There are two types of 529 plans: prepaid and savings. Prepaid plans allow one to purchase tuition credits, at today's rates, to be used in the future. Therefore, performance is based upon tuition inflation. Savings plans are different in that all growth is based upon market performance of the underlying investments, which typically consist of mutual funds. Most 529 savings plans offer a variety of age-based asset allocation options where the underlying investments become more conservative as the beneficiary gets closer to college-age. [via wikipedia]

4. P2P lending. I'd like to try out lending club. My Prosper accounts are doing ok, only one default, and I've heard better things about Lending Club.

5. ETFs and individual stocks. I already put about $2,000 into a Sharebuilder account (that's down to $1500). But the coming year may be a good time to buy some good stocks at bargain prices. Unlike two years ago when I started investing.

6. Buy property. I don't really have enough money to do this, nor do my circumstances equate to this making sense. But I know there are tax benefits to owning property, which is why I'm including it in the options.

7. CDs. CD rates suck right now. But they're at least safe.

8. Bonds and other such lower risk investments. Prob doesn't make sense in my 20s.

That's about the only options I can think of right now? I don't think employed people can open a SIMPLE IRA or SepIRA... so I've run out of options. Or do you guys have a better suggestion for me?

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Women Need to Get Retirement Act Together

My mother has no idea how much money she has available for her retirement, and she'd prefer to remain ignorant.

She's apparently not the only wife out there who prefers to avoid discussing finances. State Farm recently released findings of a national survey revealing that while 74 percent of American women feel anxious about their retirement and financial futures due to the recent economic decline, only 15 percent have made major changes to their financial plans.

More than two in five (41 percent) of survey participants admitted that going to the dentist is less excruciating than talking to their spouses about their daily finances. "The State Farm survey indicates that women are more aware of their retirement needs, however, too many of them are not taking the necessary actions to secure their financial futures," said Susan Waring, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of State Farm Life Insurance Company.

Women tend to make less than men through their lifetimes, which means they usually save less for retirement than men, Business Week reported in August. In a 2008 survey of more than 1,300 workers or retirees over age 25 by nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Matthew Greenwald & Associates, 68% of women and 76% of men said that they "had" saved for retirement.

Vanguard, a mutual fund company that also manages retirement plans, reported that in 2007 the average account balance of more than three million participants in their 401(k) plans was $56,723 for women, compared with $95,447 for men. More recently, Hewitt Associates consultants surveyed nearly 2 million participants in large-company 401(k) plans the company manages and found that women had an average of $56,320 in their accounts, compared with over $100,000 for men.

State Farm advises women to act now and take the following steps to ensure their financial profiles are ready for the unexpected:

* Review credit cards and checking accounts to assess all purchases,large and small, and tally where money is spent. Then, prioritize to identify where to cut expenses.

* Calculate monthly expenses and make sure to have enough money insavings to cover at least three months of costs.

* Seek financial advice from an expert to ensure financial plans are secure.

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Frugal October

My goal this year is to save 50 percent of my income for "taxes" (as a self-employed person I have to pay my own taxes; I do not get any money taken out of my paycheck throughout the year.) While I am unclear what my actual tax rate will be, I doubt it will be the full 50%, thus I will have additional saved funds to put towards larger purchases or saving accounts.

I'm a little behind on my target, which is scary because if my tax rate ends up being 50% after my 15% self employment tax, then I would be screwed. Well, I think I have enough time to catch up, but that means my trip back east is going to have to be frugal, and I'm not going to be able to take any days off of work (I'll be working remotely from the east coast.)

I try to put $3000 into my Roth IRA right after I pay my taxes, if I have the money available, which leaves $2000 to put in throughout the year before I hit my limit.

However, I'm wondering now if I should be funding a Roth IRA at all. Besides the poor performance of the stock market, the Roth IRA may no longer be the "smart" choice for me. I make about $60k, give or take, before taxes. I think my tax rate right now is high enough where doing a Roth is kind of dumb. Sure, I get to take my money out tax-free when I retire, but if my taxes right now are higher than what I will pay when I retire, then this is a dumb move. Not sure how to figure this out, though. Do any of you know?

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Almost maxed out my Roth IRA, now where do I put my savings?

By now, I've read plenty to scare me into investing as much as possible for retirement as soon as possible. Last year I maxed out my Roth at $4000 (put some of my savings into that, since my income didn't allow pulling from that) and this year I'm already up to $3300 of my $5000 limit. I'm trying to put in $300 a month, which will get me to my limit in a few months.

Ok, so the question is, after I max out my Roth IRA, where do I put my money?

*I am a freelancer so I don't have access to a 401(k).

I'm diversifying my investments away from my Roth right now as the case may be, but I'm not sure if that's the ideal situation. I've got about $1300 in my Sharebuilder (non roth) account which kind of seems foolish. What seems more foolish is my heavy investment in the GLD (gold) ETF, since, despite it making nice gains, is a terrible play for long term. Ok, so I should have researched this before investing in it, but I recently found out that GLD, because it's investing in gold bullion and not the gold mining companies, actually counts as a collectible after a year, which means it gets taxed at 28 percent instead of 15 percent if you hold it long term.

Well, at this point Sharebuilder is starting to seem like a huge rip off. I do like the idea of dollar cost averaging, and I am using up all of my six "free" investments each month, putting $300 a month into my sharebuilder account as well.

My question is... while I could max out my Roth IRA sooner by skipping over my Sharebuilder account altogether, I'm definitely on track to max out my roth one way or another (yeay) and then... what should I do with the rest of my savings? What's the smartest place to put it for growth and tax purposes?

Here are some options I've recently discovered and am considering. Let me know if any sound like a brilliant idea because at this point I'm completely confused.


1) 529 Plan
Part of me wants to go to grad school one day down the line, although I'm not sure of this, and putting savings into a tax advantaged 529 plan would make sense if this were the case. Worst scenerio, one day I probably have kids and they get to take advantage of my 529 plan that never got used, since it can be transferred within the family. Not a bad idea, I guess. Worst, worst case scenerio, I never have kids and someone else in my family gets the money. But this won't help me save for a house/condo, which is really want I want to be saving for right now, as grad school is a maybe and house is a definite sometime in the next 10 years.

2) HSA
I still need to open my HSA account, as my health insurance IS HSA eligible. While I can't withdraw that money until retirement (so it's less flexible than a Roth) I can use it to invest. And there are some tax advantages (that I don't entirely understand) available for the HSA as well.

3) Prosper
I've had great success with Propser in the few months I've been using it thus far. I've only put in $200 and lent to 4 people ($50 each), but the first three at least are paying on time and I'm getting my 8% return, for now anyway. Of course I'll have to pay tax on all that, but it's still a nice return. I just worry about my borrowers defaulting, since one default will take out a huge chunk of the money I'm lending. With $200 in loans, it's not that scary. If I start lending out lots of money, it could get scary.

4) CDs
I already have $12k tied up in CDs that are ending over the next six months. I'm considering putting $5000 of that into my Roth IRA for 2009 when the time comes, but that still leaves $7000 plus whatever savings I manage to make over the year. Where do I put that? Back in a CD? CD and savings rates are so crappy right now (thanks economy!) so it seems like a bad idea for the short term.

5) Put extra savings into my ING Direct high interest savings account and put it into a Roth IRA next year, and the year after, and the year after that. Don't touch it for anything else.

That leaves me with...

6) Keep the money in Sharebuilder and grow my non roth ETF investments. Figure out what the deal is with my GLD investment taxwise and sell before it moves into the higher tax rate. Probably break even on that if it performs as well as it might. Oh boy. What a bad investment! I wanted to hold it long term, but now it seems silly given what a high rate it will be taxed when it take it out. So I plan on focusing my Sharebuilder account on emerging market ETFs. Either they're do awful and I'll lose all that money or over the years they'll do well and with a low fee percentage, I might make some money. It will be taxed when I take it out, sure, but at least it will be a way to grow my savings after my Roth is maxed out. I might sell off my three individual stocks too. I'm a bit confused on dividends, but it seems that if they're going to get taxed each year and then be reinvested and my stocks keep losing money, that's a bad situation for me, no? I don't have that much money invested in individual stocks at the moment (about $300 in three stocks, the largest holding being MCD, and all three of these stocks have gone down since I started investing in them, yet I still owe tax on the dividends).

I like investing in Sharebuilder because it gives me a chance to learn all this. Still, if I want to buy a house one day, I need to be somewhat careful. I know I'm young now and I can take changes, but there's no reason to be stupid about things.

So, faithful readers, help! What should I do with my savings after I max out my Roth IRA?

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Risk vs Reward

I always thought that when it came to risk, I'd avoid it at all costs. Skydiving of the body or the spirit was not for me. Sure, I moved a lot and took tiny little risks like living on my own with no job, but nothing beyond riding a roller coaster known for its safety record.

Now that I'm getting into the stock market, albeit very slowly, I'm ever-so tempted by risk. Yesterday I found the blog of Timothy Skyes who is famous for turning his $12k of Bar Mitzvah money into more than $1 million. He loves the thrill of day trading and obviously it has paid off for him.

I don't think I'll ever be able to take my entire savings and make some educated guesses about where to place my bets on Wall Street, but I am getting more and more interested... and risky... when it comes to my relatively small stock and ETF purchases.

It surely is an addiction. A year ago, I finally took the "leap" of putting a huge chunk of my savings into a Vanguard index fund to open a ROTH IRA. But index funds, especially ones that cover multiple industries with no specific focus, have already started to bore me. Additionally, with the way the overall stock market is performing, watching my "less risky" investments tank makes me want to take more risks so I feel like the failure is, uh, much more deserved.

I started out a month ago buying a few shares of GLD, the Gold ETF. Everyone is screaming "gold" these days, as with the recession such commodities seem to thrive. GLD is the main gold ETF available for purchase. I started out buying about 4 shares of GLD and adding some more funds to that ETF. I'm not sure if I should buy more.

This purchase was followed by investing in McDonalds and Comverge (COMV). I figured why not start with one large cap, and one small cap. They ought to balance out in the middle, or something like that, right? Comverge was a company I had covered in the past as a cleantech reporter while they were still private, and I liked what I knew about them. However, I also acknowledged the fact that I had no idea whether they could turn their good idea into a profit for the company. But I always wanted to buy shares in them just because, well, I felt like it was one company I had been following from near-birth, and if anything I wanted to watch them grow (or fail) with a small amount of my money attached.

Meanwhile, McDonalds, I read, was a good buy because it offers yearly dividends to investors AND its price right now has gone down with the current recession.

After a few days it became clear that my Comverge purchase, although not the end of the world, should have been spread out over time so I could have "cost dollar averaged" and saved money. I bought a few shares of the stock for $23 each and since then they've gone down to $18 a piece. Now they're at about $19.50. I'm considering waiting (hoping) they go back up to $20-something again and then I'll sell them so my loss isn't that huge and instead invest them in another stock or ETF that might actually perform well. Or I can keep the $100 in COMV and watch it disappear. Who knows, maybe the stock will soar one day. I'm waiting for the quarterly earnings to see how they've done, and see what that does to my four shares.

Meanwhile, I found that I'm now hooked on investing. I quickly signed up for Sharebuilders "$12 a month" 6 "free" trades plan and started to pour about $300 a month into a variety of stocks and ETFs. This time I did a bit more research and picked the following three stocks/ETFs to invest in:

KOL, EWZ, WFM

What do all those letters mean?

KOL: An ETF of coal. Why coal? It's terrible for the environment. Yet with the prices of oil rising, and other cleaner alternatives far from being able to provide the energy needed in the world, I think coal has (for better or worse) a pretty strong future. I was excited to find the fairly new ETF that would allow me to get into coal with a little less risk. I plan to keep putting about $60 a month into the ETF to see if I can prove myself right. Also, a lot of the ETF is invested in Asia (coal is huge there and growing), so this gives me the Asian diversification I've been seeking.

EWZ: This stock symbol doesn't give one a clue of what the stock is! It's actually an index fund of companies in Brazil. A lot of advisers seem to be recommending it, and I want to diversify my overseas investment so it's not all in coal and Asia. Brazil has a lot going for it and the ETF has performed quite strongly in the past. Will it perform as well in the future? Beats me. I'm investing most heavily in this index fund right now, putting in about $150 a month to EWZ.

WFM: Whole Foods. I spend enough money shopping here! This is another dividend-paying, large cap stock. Not that interesting. I doubt I'll make a fortune on it, but it might at least grow slowly and calmly. Or I'll lose some money but I'll try to get out before it tanks.


One thing I've learned is that in order to make a stock purchase worth it, I eventually need to own a lot of that stock. Even if the stock goes up $10 from $10, a 50% increase, if I only own one share and have to pay $9 to sell it back, that amazing performance will only make me $1. So I've decided to try to focus on these six stocks for now, and if needed to sell one of them and replace it with another. Six seems like a good number to start with, and I'll let my portfolio grow as needed or merited by my income and thirst for risk.

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Dreams of a 401(k)

Oh 401(k), when I think about you, I touch myself.

Employers matching contributions? That's a truly beautiful concept, and one I've never been able to take advantage of.

At the moment, my freelance career prohibits me from obtaining full benefits at one company. That's how I chose to live my life, so I have to deal with the fact that my Roth IRA has lost significant amounts of money this year, while if I had been able to contribute to an employee-match 401(k) I might have at least broke even amidst this recession mess. However, I just have to go it alone. That's my choice.

But that wasn't always the case. My first full time job at a magazine showed me how even full-time gigs at companies don't always equate to earning the luxury of a 401(k). That company was a bit, how-do-you-say, confused in terms of organization. We had a meeting about getting 401(k)'s where the financial companies came in and presented our options, then they came in another day and we met with the reps and signed the paperwork. Of course, since the company was not making any money, our 401(k) was not going to include a match at all. So ultimately the only benefit was that it would encourage employees to start saving (but tax-wise, most of us would probably be better off with a Roth anyway).

Next up on my job history resume, I obtained another full-time gig at a startup where I was to get stock options instead of a 401(k). I never actually earned any of those stock options because I left the company after three months. I was fired. I was bored with the topics I was writing about. And I couldn't keep up with the pace. It was for the best.

I worry a bit about my retirement. I know it's many years off, but I won't have the security that my dad has. He retired early so my family is living on a tight budget now, but in a few years he'll have access to his pension and he and my mother can live off that. What will I have to live off of in 2058? Or whenever it is I end up retiring?

Thus far I put $4000 into my Roth IRA (started in 2007). It's down to $3600. I know... I know that investing is a long term thing. Still, I can't help but be concerned about what my future holds. Maybe the smartest thing to do would be to get a stable full-time job at a public company or government agency. But I'm trying to balance my happiness and my future. It's hard to find that balance. I'm worried I'm leaning too far towards happiness right now.

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The Markets Are Doing Crappy, eh?

I watched my money in my Vanguard account gain about $300 and then lose $400 in the past month. Today was the worst. It was apparently the worst day on the stock market since Sept 11. Oy. Maybe I picked the wrong time to start investing.



"Worries that have been out there for the past couple of years are coming to a head right now," said investment strategist Edward Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research Inc., told the Associated Press. "It's show time."

Show time?!? Um. Should I be worried?

While I'm starting to be ok with the fluctuations in the markets, it's STILL tough to lose money. I'd prefer to make money first, and then if I end up losing what I made through my investments, that's fine. I just don't like being under what I put in. And right now I put in $5000 into my mutual fund and $4000 into my Roth IRA. And now I'm at $8839.20. I realize that tomorrow that might be at $9010, or it might be at $7000. I'm a little nervous. This is kind of a test, I guess. But I really ought to balance out my investments a bit better. The rest of my cash is stored safely in low-interest CDs. Watching my investment turn from $9000 to $9300 was really exciting. But that excitement was short lived. I'm trying really hard to stick it out a year. I'm hoping that my money will have, um, made money by June 2008.

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Investment Advice From Y'all...

I received quite a few comments on my last post regarding my freaking out about losing $100+ on my Roth IRA and mutual fund investments. Thanks to goldnsilver, enoughwealth@yahoo.com, glenn, savingdiva, wanda, and hazygrey (and "anonymous") for your words of wisdom. Here are some highlights from the comments, and my responses...

hazygrey said...

"This is your IRA - you shouldn't be pulling out money for 40 years. Don't worry about it and leave it for now. I know it's easier said than done. Also remember that there have been double digit gains in the stock market for several years now, and a correction or crash could happen soon. When that happens, don't panic and don't touch the money!"

response: I'm less concerned about my Roth IRA and more concerned about my mutual fund investment. I'm terribly confused about what I should be investing in with my "extra" savings right now. I have $12,000+ tied up in average-rate CDs, which I consider my stable, low-risk investment. Then I decided to be somewhat(?) risky and put $4,500 into the Vanguard Mid Cap Growth Index Fund. While the thought of losing that $4,500 isn't exactly one of a happy sentiment, I could deal with losing the money. I don't want to lose the money. That $4,500 might be a long term investment. I'm only 23 now, so I'm hoping I'll make enough money in the coming years to keep at least $5000 away in a long-term, non-IRA investment account. But I also would like to save for a house and/or grad school. I'm not sure if that's a year out or ten years out. My life is rather in flux right now. Therefore it's hard to plan financially. My Roth IRA is fine. It's in the 2050 retirement account for a reason. I don't plan on touching it until then.

Wanda said...

Don't look at your investments every day or even every couple of weeks. Unless you are a day trader, there's no reason to. ...If a 2050 fund & a mid-cap makes you sick at night, then it's not the investment for you. Like goldnsilver said, pick something that pass the stomach test. Pick something with 20% bonds. You'll have less risk (of losing your money), but you'll be giving up the rewards (or potentially larger returns).

So what's the difference between "bonds," "money market funds," and "CDs." I get the index fund versus stock thing, but beyond that I'm lost. Is a CD a bond?

Anonymous said...

How much do need the money in the other [non roth] account? Were you depending on a quick gain to pay the rent this month? If not, give it atleast a year. These are supposed to be long term investments, not quick capital gains.

I'll gladly leave my money in the mutual fund account for a year or more. I just don't want to be losing $100 a week on this account. I guess that's unlikely, but looking at the performance thus far I'm just a tad bit nervous.

SavingDiva said...

I understand your frustruation with your loss. I don't like to lose any money. I've had to stop checking my retirement accounts every day because of market fluctuations causing fluctuations in my blood pressure! :)

Thanks for understanding. I probably should stop checking my accounts every day as well. I'm sure I'll be fine once my account starts to grow past my initial investment. It's just now I'm down $100. And that's not a good feeling.

Glenn said...

Take a step back and look at the big picture. If you are young and you will not need the funds for over 10 years don’t panic. You will be adding to your investments over time. If they funds are still lower when you make your next investment, you will be buying the same companies at a lower price. When you go shopping would you rather buy the same product at a lower price or a higher price? The same goes for mutual funds and stocks.

Good points indeed. As I noted above, my Roth IRA fund is for 2050. But the mutual fund account could be needed sooner. In 10 years I'll be 33 years old. I have absolutely no idea what my life will look like at 33. Maybe I'll already have kids. Maybe I'll have decided kids aren't for me. It's just so hard to plan when I can't figure out when I'm going to need this money. I'd like to invest so I can obtain enough cash for grad school in a few years. Or at least so I don't have to take out tons of loans, I really like the idea of paying up front for as much as possible. But it's also likely that I'll never go to grad school. How can I plan my finances based on a life I've yet to figure out?

enoughwealth@yahoo.com said...

If a drop of more than 10% would make you feel like liquidating your investment, then your current asset allocation doesn't match your risk tolerance. --- Enough Wealth

I'm not going to liquidate my investment, I'm just not all that comfortable with the idea of losing my money. But I doubt anyone is really comfortable with losing cash when it comes to investing. I mean, sure some people are more risk averse than others, but the way I see it is I'm young now and I have time for my cash to recover if the market gets wonky. If anyone should be making risky investments, it's people like me who are young with no debt. Right? I know I can survive without that $4,500. But it sure would be a shame to lose it.

GoldnSilver said...

Market fluctuation is normal. It has only been 2 weeks. Generally if you are investing for the long term, the advice is not to check your balance everyday. However, people have different habits, no one can make you do or not do something. Compare your funds to its peers or industry benchmark, that's how you can judge your funds performance. That being said, if you are risk adverse, (seeing a drop with turn your stomach upside down). CD or bond funds are not bad options. So many people focus on time horizion...if you are young you should invest more agressively. There's truth to it. However, just as important, one should know one's risk tolerance. There are many investment/savings vehicles out in the market place that can help achieve your goals. Pick one that you can stomach.

You know, I've never been a gambler. Maybe that's because I'm female. Maybe that's because I was raised by a risk adverse family. But I don't want to be dumb about it. If lots of people invest in somewhat risky mutual funds, they can't all be "wrong." Not that there's really a "wrong" in index fund investing, but, I mean, it's not like I'm rushing to trade individual stocks.

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Vanguard Woes

Ok, I know mutual funds are rather safe when it comes to an investment, but I'm really bothered that my $8500 invested in a Roth IRA and index fund has turned into about $8338 over the course of two weeks. I know I have to deal with fluctuations in the market, but it's no fun to lose over $100 in two weeks. The only thing that keeps me from pulling my money out is knowing that if it lost $100 in two weeks, then it certainly could gain $100 in a similar time span. But that's not really the point of investing. I'm supposed to be making money, not watch it all sink down the drain. Maybe my investments are bad. Or maybe the market just isn't doing good for the time being. At what point should I be worried about my investments? When my $8500 is $6000?

Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth Index Fund Investor
Shares 180.505
$24.56 –$0.14 *$4,433.20
Subtotal $4,433.20 (Bought for $4,500)


Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 Fund
$24.06 –$0.07 $3,955.61
Subtotal $3,955.61 (bought for $4,000)

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Bye, Bye Capital Gains

My Vanguard ROTH IRA and Mutual Fund accounts are back up and running. Well, I shouldn't say "back up and running" given the first purchases all were bounced back and all of the capital gains on these funds were lost. Of course, now that I reinvested my money, the funds are down and I'm losing money. I know not to stress out about this, of course, but it was so nice to see my money gain $50 in the first week as opposed to losing the money.

This time around, I decided to be a little bit more risky in my investment. I put the full $4000 into my Roth IRA (I was going to do $3000, but with my new job also lacking a 401k plan... but with a higher salary... there really is no reason not to max out my Roth IRA) and then I put $4500 into the mid cap growth index fund. In a month or so I might diversify a bit and take $1500 of that and add another $1500 to a large cap fund.

One day, when conflict of interest is not an issue (if that's ever the case) I'd like to get into stock trading on Zecco. It sounds like a good place to start out. But for now, I can't get too deep into the Wall Street world.

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Ready for a little bit of a rant?

So, in short, my bank is driving me mad. I have no clue if all of this mess is my bank's fault, or my fault, or Vanguard's fault, but I'm really pissed off and to be honest I feel a bit bipolar about my whole financial situation right now.

Remember those two accounts I opened at Vanguard for $3000 each? The ones that were slowly but surely gaining interest that had me jumping for joy?

Well, I come home today to check my accounts over on my portfolio on BoA... and what do I see? They're gone. Somehow my bank decided to buy negative shares back so now my investments are back to 0. I have no idea what's going on. The mutual fund purchases were never posted to my checking account. But Vanguard's site said they transferred. What is going on?

I called BoA and the woman I talked to didn't understand anything. Of course it's 8:30 on a Sunday night so customer service is closed.

Btw, two days ago they apparently turned off my debit card for "suspicious activity." I've yet to have it turned back on. I decided that my transfers of $6000 to Vanguard must have freaked out BoA, but according to the person I talked to on their help line, the activity on my account should not effect my debit card and vice versa.

I appreciate my bank trying to protect me from fraudulent activity, but gosh, the reason I haven't moved my cash to an online bank is because I like being able to go in to a banking center for help. Except the banking centers these days, at least BoA's banking centers, are entirely useless. I mean, there are some nice people who work there, and I even found a BoA that has cookies to munch on while you're waiting. That's nice. I like cookies. But what I don't like is how difficult it is to manage such simple things like transferring my money to an outside mutual fund. I mean, it seemed like such a concept was alien to this customer service woman. She couldn't quite grasp the idea of someone transferring her money FROM a checking account TO a mutual fund.

Oy.

Ok, my rant is just about done now because there's nothing I can do until the morning when I'll have the opportunity to call up customer service and whine to them. I e-mailed Vanguard because maybe they can tell me more than what BoA doesn't understand.

I'm really getting fed up with BoA. It sucks, because I do like having a local banking center where I can deposit my funds. And I LOVE my mini BoA debit card for my keychain - I use it all the time and... I really think I'm the only person in the entire world taking advantage of the miniature debit card because every time I present it as a form of payment, the person ringing up the bill laughs out loud and says something along the lines of "wow, is this real?"

Anyway, I'm just really sad that the $30 some-odd dollars I supposedly made last week on my mutual fund is no more. I'm not even going to get hopeful about Vanguard being able to somehow place the purchase date on May 30 so the interest remains the same.

*end rant.*

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Too Good to be True?

I understand that mutual funds are fickle, but I'm still rather excited by the fact that my $3000 has made $31.28 in just two days. It'll probably drop down again sometime soon, so I'm not sure how much weight to put on that $31.28 cent gain. Still, that's pretty cool... to think, it's possible to make an extra $15 a day. That's enough for lunch!

Meanwhile, my Roth IRA has gone up $18.40. So I'm up $49.68 in two days. That's not bad, is it? I wonder how long until my accounts are at less than what I started with.

I'm still confused about the CD I tried to open online. It was that $5000 one at 5.01%. BoA called me but I still haven't gotten back to them. And, as I noted before, I tried to take of the matter with a real person at an actual banking center, but because I bought the CD online I can only ask my questions to online banking reps via the phone. I'm kind of hoping something went wrong with it and it didn't go through. That way I can take that $5000 and put it into another mutual fund, perhaps a large cap one. Or maybe I'll be risky (stupid?) and put more in my VMGIX fund.

One thing I don't get is if mutual funds work like the stock market. For instance, is it best to "buy" when the price is low for each fund share? Or does it matter less because you're buying pieces of a bunch of stocks as opposed to just one stock?

I wish my bank would process transfers faster. It gets confusing when it looks like my checking account has $14k in it but really I know $6k of that was moved to the IRA & mutual fund and $5k of that is supposedly tied up in a CD that may or may not exist.

Off on a tangent, it's quite exciting that I've gotten so many comments on my blog in the past day. One person who reads my other blogs actually figured out who I am! I don't really care much if people who know me read this, but I guess I'm partially ashamed of being such a spoiled brat with my cushion of savings in the bank, and I feel awful that I don't have student loans to pay while plenty of my friends do.

Then again, I also have friends whose parents will gladly put them through grad school and I know that, while my dad would help out here and there, I'm on my own when it comes to any higher education. Or am I? Well, my father says he can access his 401k funds in about 3 and a half years. It seems like he's hinting at the fact that at that point he'll be able to help out with money a bit more.

A part of me wants nothing to do with his money right now. I've already received more than I desire, and I feel guilty about that. But there's also reality, and how I'm likely going to be making a "normal" salary for the foreseeable future. My $24k in savings doesn't seem like much when I figure plenty of my peers are making $50k or $60k per year. Give them two years or less and already we're on an equal playing field. So how guilty can I let myself feel, really?

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PF Jitters

My $6000 was officially transferred from the safety of my Maximizer checking account into my IRA and Mutual Fund investment accounts. I’m excited about taking the investment leap myself, but nervous as all hell that the leap might be futile, or worse. I’m pretty comfortable with the $3000 I put to my Roth IRA. It’s in a nice Retirement 2050 plan that’s already diversified with my retirement date in mind. And since Vanguard seems to be a pretty reputable company, I’m not too worried. However, the $3000 I put towards that Mid-Cap Growth Index Fund is probably a bad idea.

As of 10:25am, my $3000 in my mutual fund is down 5 cents, and my $3000 in my IRA is up 3 cents. Why is a 2-cent loss making me so god-damn nervous? And furthermore, why is my Mutual Fund down 5 cents when looking at the day’s activity in the fund, it should be up a bit? I’m rather confused right now. Maybe it dropped down the second I put my money in. I know I’m going to be anal about checking how the fund is doing, despite that I’m going to try to force myself to keep my money in there for a few years (until grad school) unless someone more knowledgeable than me advises me otherwise.

I’m kind of glad I’m prohibited from getting involved in the nitty gritty of stock trading (due to covering technology companies that I’d like want to invest in), so I’ll likely avoid making any major investment mistakes. Still, putting $3000 in an account that could drop down to $2000 in a few days makes me rather nervous. I mean, the largest investment I’ve ever made with my money thus far was that godawful CD with a 3.1 % interest rate. I put $7000 into that a few months after I got out of college. It seemed like the wise thing to do at the time. It was an 18-month CD, and I figured since I had upwards of $30k in savings somehow, I could spare $7000 for such a “risky” investment. Well, it felt risky at the time.

Sadly enough, I didn’t bother to call my bank when the CD matured, thinking that it would just automatically transfer to my checking or savings account and I could deal with it then. Of course, now I know that CD’s automatically reinvest themselves at the same rate, for the same amount of time. So now I have my $7000 (which is at about $7400 after gaining the 18 months of Interest, which I guess is better than nothing) tied up in this low-interest CD. Meanwhile I recently saw an ad on Bank of America for an 8-month 5.01 % CD and I threw $5000 at that. For some reason they haven’t processed my CD investment yet, though. I guess I have to call them and confirm some things before they can pull my money from my checking account and put it in the CD.

In more exciting news, since last weekend I’ve made $1.57 since enrolling in BankofAmerica’s “Keep the Change” program. It’s kind of neat – every time you use your debit card, they roll your spending cost up to the nearest dollar and deposit the difference in your bank account. So, for instance, if you spend $1.01, they’ll toss in 99 cents. Of course, most purchases end up being, like, $2.92, so in that case you only get 8 cents. But over the course of one week and eight transactions, I’ve afforded myself a small coffee. I also apparently racked up $2.46 in my AdSense account somehow. I guess that means people are actually reading my page. That’s exciting! Extra income, even $4 a week, is certainly helpful. I’m nervous about this AdSense account thing, though. I’ve read some horror stories about how Google has shut down accounts if you click on your own links. And it’s not like I’m going to do it on purpose, but sometimes I’m not thinking and I’m actually interested in an advertisement shown on my page. I’ve never had to restrict myself from clicking something. So hopefully I can restrain myself.

On another note, I’m saving some money this month because I’ve offered a friend who’s recently moved to the area a place to crash until she finds a place. I wasn’t going to make her pay anything, but since she offered I figured I’d split my rent and pro-rate it. So that comes out to $15 a day. And I’m also possibly designing some websites for my friends for a rather small fee (compared to my normal rate.) But I never count my freelance money as income. It’s always “extra,” although in actually due to my poor spending habits and inability to keep a budget, I’m lucky if my freelance wages cover all the cash I’ve spent in a month.

So salary-wise, make about $2200 a month after taxes. (Though this year I ended up owing a lot in taxes and I haven’t done anything with the W4, so I’m figuring I make about $2100 a month, really. $905 of that goes to rent & utilities (PG&E, water, trash, etc are “included” in my rent). Oh, what the hell, here’s a list of my basic fixed monthly costs:

$905 -- Rent (includes utilities) – Going up to $1050 per month in July, plus requiring renter’s insurance.
$60 – Verizon Cell Phone Bill, if I remember to pay it on time and don’t use 411, etc.
$64 – RCN TV & Internet
$8 – the converter box from RCN that I’ve yet to find time to return, that I’m apparently “renting” on a monthly basis
$5 – RCN “Home networking” – on my RCN bill, but I have no idea what this is. WTF?
------------------------------
$1038 total for now
$1188 + whatever rent’s insurance costs in July.

Now, time for some depressing figures…

My spending on rent currently is 45 percent of my income (you’re only supposed to spend 20-30 percent of your income on rent, I hear.) In July, sans a raise (and I doubt I’m getting a raise anytime soon) I’ll be spending 50 percent (or more) of my income on rent.

It doesn’t take a personal finance blogger to tell me that’s a terrible idea.

I’ve been thinking about writing a post about why on earth I live alone in the SF Bay Area on $35k a year, so I think I’ll write that up over my lunch break later this afternoon.

In any case, with $1050 left for all the other things in life outside of basic housing, TV, Internet and phone, I just keep overspending. It doesn’t help matters that I’m spending upwards of $350 a month in gas to get to my various rehearsals that are 40 or so miles from my home (my “hobby” is doing community theater – which is free, outside of gas mileage and makeup for shows and the like.)

But hey, at least I made $1.57 in “keep the cents” change. Then again, Bank of America, for some reason, has that $1.57 noted as a “spend” in my checking account. So I’m down $1.57 for the time being. What’s up with that? Grr.

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Diversification?

This isn't my first blog, nor will it be my last likely, but after randomly falling into the online investment blogging community, I decided it's a good idea to start tracking my finances and the like via the Internet... anonymously, of course.

So here's a little bit of info about me to get started: I'm a young professional in her early 20's. I've been out of undergrad for two years now. My income is $35k a year, benefits included, except sans a 401k. Chance of raise/promotion within next year: 15%. Chance of company going out of business: 55%.

I'm fortunate in the sense that I have a decent amount of savings and no college loans. Savings from both my dad putting aside some funds for me for the awkward post-college year, and then extra cash from a lawsuit over a broken arm when I was little. My networth right now is around $27k. So I realize I'm better off than many other people my age, despite the fact that they might be making $50k a year and I'm only at $35k. Or at least our actual income after bills and other expenses is usually about the same.

Since this is an anonymous blog, I feel ok talking about the details of my finances. I haven't talked about it much on my main blog since it feels weird letting people know about how much I'm worth, or not worth. But finances are one of the things that I really need to talk somewhat publicly about, since I'm unsure of how to handle my money, with the exception of spending it. I'm very good at spending it.

So I recently opened a few random mutual fund/IRA/CD accounts, as I'm attempting to "diversify" my portfolio. I know I'm supposed to be living under my means, but I often fail to do that and spend more per month than I take in. Obviously that's a bad idea. But i'm hoping that at the least, putting some of my funds in high-interest accounts will balance out my poor spending habits.

Ok, so here's the breakdown of my accounts right now... (I'm going to try to keep tabs of this, as well as my budget, on here)

$2,143.54 - Checking
$7,421.99 - CD - 3.1 % Interest, matures 8/28/08
$5,510.58 - Maximizer Checking
$1000.63 - Savings
$5,000 - 8-month 5.01% Interest CD
$3,000 - Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth Index Mutual Fund
$3,000 - Roth IRA, in 2050 Retirement Plan fund

Well, the last three of these items haven't officially been started yet. I signed up for them yesterday. I'm waiting for all of the electronic transfers to go through. I realize investing in a Mid-Cap Growth Index Mutual Fund. Afterall, the smart thing to do is to invest in large caps, right? But I figure if I put $3000 into a mid cap fund, I can also invest in a large cap fund if/when I ever get a raise. I'm $1000 to maxing out my Roth IRA fund.

I don't understand the Roth versus regular IRA option, being as I know the Roth is all after-tax income and the regular IRA is pre-tax income then invested. But what should I be investing in now? I'm only making $35k a year, so it seems like I'll most likely be in a higher tax bracket when I want to retire. Afterall, I plan on making more than $35k per year when I'm 55 or 65 or whatever age it is I can retire.

And if I sign up for a Roth IRA now, can I move to a regular IRA at any time? Or am I stuck in the Roth?

Finally, how about my mutual funds - how much will it cost to change them from mid-cap to large-cap if suddenly I realize I ought to be a bit less risky in my investing? Gosh, I'm so confused.

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