Ask the Readers: Have You Ever Heard of IRAs or Roth IRAs?
Congratulations to KelR1, Alissa A, and Peg Mooers for winning this week's contest!
Jeff Rose at Good Financial Cents is starting a movement: The Roth IRA Movement! Many people have never heard of an IRA or a Roth IRA, nor have they begun planning for retirement. Getting educated about saving for retirement is one of the most financially savvy things anyone can do. It is important to start saving for retirement today because without proper planning and saving, your dreams of retirement will never become a reality.
Have you heard of an IRA or a Roth IRA? Are you procrastinating on your retirement planning or are you already taking steps to ensure you will be able to retire?
Tell us if you have heard of an IRA or a Roth IRA and we'll enter you in a drawing to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!
Win 1 of 3 $20 Amazon Gift Cards
We're doing three giveaways — one for random comments, one for random Facebook "Likes", and another one for random tweets.
Mandatory Entry:
- Post your answer in the comments below
For extra entries (1 per action):
- Go to our Facebook page, "Like" us, and leave a comment on this article telling us you did, or
- Tweet your answer. You have to be a follower of our @wisebread account. Include both "@wisebread" and "#WBAsk" in your tweet so we'll see it and count it. Leave a link to your tweet (click the timestamp for the individual URL) in a separate comment.
If you're inspired to write a whole blog post OR you have a photo on flickr to share, please link to it in the comments or tweet it.
Giveaway Rules:
- Contest ends Monday, April 2nd at 11:59 pm Pacific. Winners will be announced after April 2nd on the original post. Winners will also be contacted via email.
- You can enter all three drawings — once by leaving a comment, once by liking our Facebook update, and once by tweeting.
- This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered, or associated with Facebook.
- You must be 18 and US resident to enter. Void where prohibited.
Good Luck!
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My husband and I contribute to a Roth IRA.
Heard of them, don't really understand them.
Long time "Like"r.
https://twitter.com/#!/abczoomom/status/184627408178126848
Yes, I have heard of both traditional and roth ira's, and have both.
I like you on FB.
I've heard of both, but I don't have either yet. I'm paying off my non-student-loan debt first - I should be able to start an IRA of one sort or another in 2013.
I like WB on FB!
I started a Roth IRA the first year I started working! It is a great investment tool.
I tweeted! https://twitter.com/#!/junethomemaker/status/184634261939298304
I have a Roth Ira but I don't know anything about it!
I have both an IRA and ROTH IRA.
I have been taking steps towards retirement since I got my post-college job.
I have WiseBread liked on facebook.
I become vested with my organization next week and am excited to have my contributions matched! I have an app that shows me how much I've accrued so I feel like I 1) have a safety net and 2) am encouraged to make my money work for me.
I have heard of both Roth IRAs and standard IRAs. I really should be putting my retirement money in to one, but right now I am focused on debt elimination and saving for a wedding.
I've heard of IRAs and other retirement planning accounts, but I only have a 401k that I've been contributing to for a few years now.
Although I've heard of IRA and Roth IRA, I've never really looked at them. I do contribute (the minimum) to my 401(k) at work but that is the extent of my retirement planning. Living paycheck to paycheck (or not as the case may be) isn't conducive to planning ahead or saving.
I have a Traditional, but not a Roth. Can I have both? Can I max out both?
I have heard of both! Unfortunately, I have neither.
Yes! Avoid the IRA & Definitely sign up for a Roth (If your income allows it).
I learned about Roth IRAs from my parents, who are self-educated students of personal finance. They recommend the STAR fund from Vanguard to start out since I had very little money to invest (as I am still paying my law loans). It's $1000 to start. The added benefit is that Vanguard has a solid track record of performance and is a great way to learn how Roth IRAs work and to learn the magic of compounding! After you set aside an initial emergency fund of $1000, once you can save another $1000, I highly recommend you invest it a Roth IRA. Once the government catches on and realizes how beneficial it is to us, they will begin to curtail it, I am afraid. Now is the time to ROTH your investment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Roth IRAs are the best. The only problem is the income caps . regulating savings after taxes seems a little too big brotherish.
Roth IRAs are the best pretax investment deal out there. Get in early in your working life and make as much as you can. Hey they say one in four people in our generation will live to be 100. Tessa Best
roth IRAs are the best. the incomes limits are ridiculously low, and the government should not regulate after tax savings, but with the tax advantages if you can yous should.
I heard of Roth IRAs a few years ago, and finally opened my own a year ago. I finally landed a long-term job and quit moving around the country, so I could start to focus on long-term saving and financial security. A Roth IRA made so much sense for its tax advantages.
yes...went I obtained a Business Degree and this was taught in many of my classes
Yes! My Dad helped me start my Roth IRA when I got a job at age 15. I have been saving for retirement ever since!
Yes, I have heard of both an IRA and a Roth IRA. I have a Roth IRA and my wife has an IRA. They're a great complement to our 401K and other investments.
I've heard of IRA's, but unfortunately, I am unemployed and don't have any extra money to contribute to one at the moment.
Liked you on FB!
Yes, I've heard of them
I have heard of IRA's, but not the ROTH.
https://twitter.com/#!/missluckybreaks/status/184676934159056899
I've been liking you on FB
Of course I have, had a traditional IRA for 20some years and took advantage in 2009 of converting partial to ROTH. Soon I will be using them...
We just opened ours, and moved as much of our savings into them as we could. It feels good to watch them slowly grow. We found an investment company that matches our values, and takes ethics into account when investing in companies. So we just put into into an agressive mutual fund, as we can stand to lose money every once in a while, since we are in this for the long term.
Tweeted.
I like you (I really like you!) on Facebook.
I like you (I really like you!) on Facebook.
Yes I have! For now, paying off debt and getting matching with my 401k... but will be doing a Roth conversion and maxing it out after that!
I started a Roth IRA a few years after going freelance and fund it fully. Wish I'd started it sooner, but there was a lot going on back then.
This year my goal is to put some money into my daughter's Roth IRA.
Yes! My husband and I each have our own Roths that we max out each year.
I first learned about IRA's (both types) during my last year in grad school in the mid nineties. I started contributing shortly after that.
I do not have one currently set up, but I'm looking into options for getting started!
Heard of them and am trying to learn the differneces and which one is right for me.
Yes I've heard of them, we actually have both. My husband and I each have a seperate and joint eotj IRA. We also have seperate tradition IRAs that we have used to rollover previous 401ks.
tweeted!
https://twitter.com/#!/goonyburd/status/184693286752092161
Yes, I've heard of both. I have one of each, though I don't contribute like I should.
I have a Roth, and one traditional one I rolled over from an old job
https://twitter.com/#!/KarmellaS/status/184704678746005505
Yes--I know what these are and I have an IRA!
My wife and I both have Roths. I like them. I'm hoping to get my college student into one ASAP.
I've heard of them but have no personal experience with either one.
I have extensively researched starting a Roth IRA. After graduating from college last year, I started at job in August where I currently make about 11,000 a year (it also helps pay off my student loans) My financial state being what it is, I have been entirely focused on building up an emergency fund with the little extra money I have each month. I hope to start an IRA next summer once I have moved on from this job and into a higher salaried position.
I have heard of both, but only have a traditional IRA right now.
yup, heard of both but have neither.
Both my wife and I contribute to individual 401(k)'s through our work.
We don't have Roth IRAs but my husband and I need one!
as soon as i started working i opened up a roth. dad would have been proud!
I like Wisebread on Facebook!
I have heard a lot about Roth IRAs and I'm considering opening one.
I have heard of both traditional and Roth IRA.
Yes, I know about Ira and Roth Iras.
My husband and I both have a Roth IRA. It just seems easier to pay taxes now rather than in the future....who knows when the government might change or raise them.
Yes, I have both.
I have heard of both of them, and I have both of them.
I Liked you on Facebook
I heard of them and I contribute monthly to a regular IRA. I sure wish that I had started sooner.
Yes. Since forever, thanks to my Dad. Been contributing since forever too, thanks to having a job and a Dad who taught me these things.
A Roth IRA certainly wasn't a standard option when I started my retirement savings 4 years ago. However, when a different company bought out the one I worked for, I had to make a choice about my old 401(k). I decided to open a Roth IRA with ING. It's nice to know that all of my eggs aren't in one basket.
I have not only heard of them, but my husband and I each have an IRA and a Roth IRA.
Yes, I have heard of them!
I have a Roth IRA. It helps to plan for retirement for tax diversification purposes. Tax rates have to go up. I can pay the taxes now when they are lower and not later when they increase.
I contribute regularly to a Roth IRA
I have had a Roth IRA for many years, since I worked in the brokerage industry for nearly a decade. Having money to fund it is another question!
I have heard of both Roth and Traditional IRAs...I also understand the differences between them.
We both have Roth IRAs.
Yes, I've heard of an IRA and a Roth IRA. I don't have one but I do have a 401K since that's all my job offers but I'll have to roll my 401k into a Roth if I ever leave my job :)
I know about both the IRA and Roth IRA but haven't contributed to either as I had a retirement plan through work. Am now retired.
yes i have a ROTH ira and just convinced my husband to get one too, woot!
tweeted https://twitter.com/#!/oshkoshbgosh123/status/185193344803155968
like wisebread on fb
Yep! Opened a Roth IRA a few years ago on my 23rd birthday as a gift to myself. :)
I heard about them when I went to the bank to open a checking account. When the guy there said that he would need to refer to me to some other guy to open something like that, I said I'd probably need to. But not right now. I looked it up and had Khan Academy explain it to me.
I like you on facebook!
https://twitter.com/#!/linjiunhan/status/185244457891921920
Heard of them, but haven't opened one yet. It's next on my list of financial to-dos!
considering an IRA in addition to my 401K and employee stock :)
i like you on facebook
https://twitter.com/#!/ReneeAChapman/status/185375739338698752
My husband and I know of Roth IRAs but we don't yet make enough after student loan payments to save enough to justify the cost per transaction. :-(
Yes, I've heard of both the IRA and Roth IRA. I have several IRA accounts and retirement can't get here soon enough.
I have a traditional ira and a roth ira. I hope to not use them for a long time.
When I was in college I took a personal finance class, where we were encouraged to put $1,000 a year into a Roth IRA starting when we graduated (at around age 22). Unfortunately, I didn't have a job that paid full-time wages until nearly 30, but at that point I started the $1,000 Roth IRA savings plan.
Roth IRa's are a great planning tool. My 18-year old son has one too!
I have one of each type of account!
I know that both are retirement accounts. We do not have them. My husband is one of the few people left with a defined pension plan(railroad). As his spouse I am entitled to a half pension when he retires.
I've heard of them, I don't have one. I'm still drowning under student loan debt, I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to retire.
I've heard of both and understand how they work, but we haven't contributed to one yet
I follow your page on Facebook