I know IRA is a tax shelter account, so what are good investments?

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I have ,000 in various investments ranging from 401K, Common Stocks, and Mutual Funds. I also have ,000 in credit card debt. Should I liquidate my investments and pay off my credit card debt. What would be better in the long run. Credit card interest spans from 4.99% to 17.99%.

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I am reaching the age of 60 this year. The stock market has had a long bullish run. However, because of economic uncertainty and my age, I want to reposition my portfolio into a more defensive posture. I have read much advice recently but would like to hear from others who have personal experience with this or from anyone with ideas about defensive investments that might offer yields above bank CD rates.

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At age 60, is it feasable to assume that you can withdraw about 10% a year on your investments and not expect to see a large differential in your initial principal over the next 20 years?

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I’m meeting with a financial planner tomorrow. We had a chance meeting and I told him my husband and I have no money. He said I am exactly the kind of person who needs his services. He wants copies of tax records, pay stubs and investments. What can I expect??

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I’m a U.S. citizen working and living abroad. I use form 2555ez to file US taxes. I want to use some of my foreign earned income to invest in the US. Is the income earned from investments taxable? If so, how do I report it?

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I want to invest in a stock option that is not offered through my employer’s 401k plan. Is there a way to move funds from my employer sponsered 401k program to these investments that I want to invest in?

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I am in need of increasing my short-term income dramatically in order to continue to afford to obtain my engineering degree, because I do not have enough money to be able to afford the classes that I need to take next semester that would count towards my degree so that I can get a higher-paying job. What can I do as far as investments or other income sources (without scams) in order to provide the money I need to pay for next semester? Thanks!

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A long time ago I opened a SEP-IRA from Vanguard, and had an automatic deposit of I think around per month. It was more to just get my foot in the door and my mind in the right direction. This was in my early 20′s. (1995) and now the balance is ~K which means it paid 00 in interest over 10 years. This amounts to on average of 0.1% per year, and dividend gains from 10 years was . Can someone please explain how in the heck this is an effective retirement method? I mean, I have many other investments now, 90% are in bonds, etc and 10% in high risk stock trades. (more for fun that anything) For example I invested in BP right when it turned around (about 20 shares @ at the time) and now in one week I have made more that I did with 10 years in that IRA. What am I missing here? Also when I opened my SEP-IRA there was NO minimum, or maybe it was which is why I set it at per month. So the 10 years going from to K was almost all my contributions. For example an average year yielded like {content}.50 total for the year 2001 and my balance at the time was around 00 (again, almost all was my per month contribution).

I tried to do some research on the IRA and it talked about 1 year, 3 year, 5 year up to 10 year. I see nothing near what they show. Even if I did I have other questions:

1. do they figure dividends per month, per quarter, or per year?
2. Their example showed an investment of one time K and after 10 years it should be near K what happens if you leave it in more than 10 years?
3. what is the best way to invest in mutual funds
4. With 20 more years until retirement I estimated I need at least 0K to retire, does this mean I basically have to invest 0K/20 or K per year? or what % should I expect to see contributing to this to reduce the K per year contributions?
Prime money market VMMXX

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My wife and i had over 0,000.00 in stocks and bonds, our investment broker was making horrible decisions, losing everything we had saved and charging us for the privilege. We pleaded with him to stop changing our investments but he wouldn’t stop, he said it was his job and told us to let him do his job. We finally pulled the money out of his company and moved it to a basic savings account, but by the time we had done this, our broker had lost over 0,000.00 of our money. We filed charges against him only to find out that he fled the country and hasn’t been seen or heard from since. We thought we were on our way to retirement but now we feel lost and we’re scared to let anybody else touch our money, what do we do to get on track to retire at 59 to 62 yrs old? we only have ,000.00 left. We are 45 yrs old now, we have no credit card debt, no car payments, no kids, a 0 a month mortgage that will be paid off at age 59. I currently make k a yr, my wife takes care of the house. We have roughly 00 a month that we can put away for retirement. We don’t drink, smoke or do drugs, we do not live an extravagant lifestyle but we do like to vacation once a year. Everybody keeps telling us to live below our means..we are doing that now. We don’t do anything, we don’t go out, we don’t party, we don’t buy expensive cars, nothing. We do want to "live" while we are healthy enough to do so but based on what everybody tells us, we should do nothing but sit at home, save money then use the money to pay our medical bills when were to old and sick to do anything. If that’s what we’re supposed to do…whats the point of it all? Please help. Tell us why your advice is worth listening too…are you a lifestyle coach, investment person, etc… Thanks so much for your time.

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My wife and I recently started variable universal life insurance policies. We are paying about 0 a month toward the policy on top of what we are each contributing to our 401k plans. We are both under 30 yrs. old, and are trying to get a good start on our retirement. Should we be investing in IRA’s or something else instead? We both supported ourselves before we got married, so do we even need life insurance right now since we don’t have children yet? Our advisor works for New York Life, and he’s telling us that the variable universal policy is the best first step. I feel like he is just trying to maximize his commision instead of doing what’s best for us. I know, we shouldn’t have gone to an insurance salesman, but he was recommended by a close friend. What should we do?
Combined, we make ,000/yr. I contribute 6% to my 401k, and my wife contributes 1%. We are homeowners, not renters. Other that that, we don’t have any other investments.

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How do I invest in foreclosures? I was snooping around the real estate classifies and saw some VERY good deals on houses. Are these good investments to buy and rent out? Are these good investments to buy then resell later? I’m talking about paying k or less for a house worth over 0k! What’s the catch?

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What percent of your investments are in international stocks mutual funds? What fund(s) are you currently using? Do you have any international small caps right now?

What percent of your investments are in emerging markets stock funds? What fund(s) are you using?

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Mr. Smith invested some money at 6% simple interest and some money at 10% simple interest. In the second investment they put 00 more than they put in the first. If the income from both investments for one year was 0, then how much did they invest at each rate?
Could someone help me find an equation to solve this problem? What I don’t know is how to write an equation that includes the extra 00 in the 2nd investment.

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Currently I have about k cash saved up. The only debt that I have is a mortgage with a balance of k. I took out a 10 year mortgage, and have been paying an extra 00/month towards the principal balance. This summer I should have enough cash to pay the mortgage off, which I fully intend to do.

I also have a rental house that is generating 00/month in income. The rental house is paid off.

So, sometime this summer I will have my primary residence paid off, and generating 00/month in rental income.

Currently I’m putting 0/month in a ROTH, but once I pay my house I will max that contribution. I’m putting 6% into my 401k, company maches 50%, so 9% to the 401k/month.

After my house is paid off, I should be able to save at least 00/month, and possibly up to 00.

Any suggestions on how to move forward and retire early?

I’m thinking about saving up an additional k or so and putting 20% down on 2 different rental properties, with a 10 year mortgage. It would take ~2 years to save up the 20% down, so I would be 32. By 42, I would have 2 more homes fully paid off, with hopefully another 00/month in rental income.

Should I go with real estate? Or is there a better/smarter way to go?

By the time I’m 42, I would have a total of 00/month in rental income with no debt if everything works out as planned.

That’s probably not enough to live on, so what other types of investments could I look at to make up the difference?

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