Why You Should Fund Your Roth Even If You Won’t Need It
ChooseFI (FI-nancial Planner) – April 19, 2018
First things first – “Roth” is not an account type! It’s a tax treatment! The author means “Roth IRA” which is an IRA account with a Roth tax advantage.
Okay, I feel better.
Now let’s look at why I’m recommending this post about funding a Roth IRA.
I am frequently asked whether someone should fund their Roth IRA. I see this question a lot in forums, too. Usually it’s under the guise of “if I plan to retire before traditional retirement age, shouldn’t I be funding taxable brokerage accounts instead?” There are several reasons why it still makes sense to fund tax-advantaged retirement accounts instead of taxable accounts. But why should you fund a Roth IRA specifically? Well…the answers are in this post, so I won’t spoil it. But the teaser answer is: flexibility.
Or maybe people want to know why they should choose an account with a Roth tax treatment instead of a Traditional treatment. That’s more difficult to answer (and the answer changes over time), but the answer to that is in this post, too.
The Ultimate List of 18 Geoarbitrage Cities Worldwide
Birds of a FIRE – April 15, 2018
Here’s yet another list of places to live on the cheap.
I know I’ve posted lists like this before, but it’s something people always want to know. And frankly, it’s something I’m interested in.
What I really like about this list is that she found at least one city on almost every continent to fit her criteria. As she says at the beginning of the post, a lot of these lists tend to focus on cities in Asia. That’s great if you want to live in Asia, but I know there are other places around the world where you can live cheaply, safely, and comfortably. That’s what this list is.
Notice that this post isn’t necessarily a list of places to retire to. She focused on places where somebody could live as a digital nomad, doing their work from a coworking space, a café, or home. That being said, if you look at some of the prices listed you can easily see how this list could inspire some great retirement location plans!
Note: I was asked about a list of places for military retirees to live if they are NOT planning to work. I’m going to start working on one. In the meantime, if you know of any similar lists please drop a link in the comments!
Financial Independence is a marathon, not a sprint
Modern Personal Finance – April 15, 2018
At CampFI Mid-Atlantic, I made a comment that I’ve said several times before. Something along the lines of “everybody should work for financial independence/early retirement, because it’s better to be ready for that and choose not to do it than to not prepare for it and then be forced into early retirement.”
I truly believe that. Between family members who were unable to work due to illness and friends who struggled to find work, I see a lot of benefit in saving and saving hard, no matter what your retirement plans are. Not to mention, 25-year-olds usually have a very different idea of how long they will want to work than 55-year-olds do.
This post makes that point in a very relatable way. Well, less relatable for me, since I hate running with the burning passion of a thousand fiery suns. But it’s easy to understand. Check it out.
Thanks so much for the feature :). Awesome to hear you are considering your own list :D! Definitely a plus when you can publish research you already did for a blog post! Much easier than writing an entirely new post, haha.
and thanks for the thorough list! I agree, it seems like 90% of these lists are either Asia or a couple South American countries. It’s nice to see some other options!
last week i was tempted to comment to somebody on this here internet that you shouldn’t fund a taxable account until you’ve depleted allowable roth contributions, but i held back. it is all about the flexibility especially if the person is sort of young. i know i didn’t invent the concept, but roth money is the king of all money, like the mighty pig is king of the sty!
there are lots of dirt cheap places to live right here in the u.s.a. too. you could buy the house where i grew up for about 60k and it comes with a 2 car garage and a little land for a garden. you could side hustle your rump off with all the american amenities in the style to which we’ve become accustomed.