Today I filled out the paperwork - effective as of my payday at the end of April (since I get paid once a month) I will have about 86% of my salary deducted pre-tax and put into my retirement accounts. I have plenty of money in liquid savings, and will have more by then, so I know logically it will be perfectly fine even if I don't bring in another dime from CashDuck for at least six months, but it's still a little scary to only draw $500 of salary a month! (That is, before my deductions for my insurance premium, gym membership, and FSA.. that's why it's not 100% of my salary.) So I might only bring home $200 a month. I went in to my TIAA-CREF account and put in some allocations for it - I am hoping that the gibberishly named account that doesn't have any money in it is the 457. (All the other gibberishly named accounts have deposits from which I can figure out whether it's my involuntary contributions, voluntary contributions, or the Roth.)
I also signed up with Citi to get the $50 signup bonus (read about it here) but I forgot to put in the code. I was supposed to take out the code that was there, and enter another. Oh well, I can always use more bank accounts. :) I wonder what the original code was supposed to get you.
Friday, March 23, 2007
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11 comments:
Yikes! Do you have to pay for rent? food? utilities? having some fun occasionally? I admire your will but that seems a little overboard to me. To each his own I guess.
Yes, I have all of that covered, no worries! By the time this plan goes into effect, I should have about $15,000 in cash in ING for spending, and will put about $2,000 a month in ING Checking for spending on rent, bills, food, fun, etc.
Basically you're systematically transferring your savings into your retirement accounts if I'm reading this right. Not a bad strategy, but have you thought of other possible options for the cash.
It'd be a nice downpayment on a rental property. From personal experience, a rental property is a great tax savings vehicle also, and you can generate cash every month to replace other income. Just a thought.
Nice blog. I'll stop back by
-limeade
http://fiscalmusings.blogspot.com
A rental property is also a HUGE waste of time for me. If you've read my blog before, you might have seen how I've mentioned several times how I want to buy a house, but know I might move soon. And I've also written about how between the full time job, and the nigh full time job of running CashDuck, I really don't have the time. You may think it's a wonderful option, but it's not right for everyone.
I'm really sorry I didn't go back and read every post of yours before I made my comment. It was just something I thought of since we're all after the same thing I thought.
Again, I apologize for offending you.
-limeade
http://fiscalmusings.blogspot.com
Based on my calculation, you are putting about $36857.14 into you retirement acct. Ain't there a $15.5k max on 401k? What kind of retirement account is that? Please provide more details.
I have a Roth IRA, a 403(b) which like the 401(k) does have the $15.5k cap, and a 457 which has a $14,700 cap. (I also have an SEP-IRA which doesn't have a definite numbers cap, but depends on how much the business makes.)
Saving money for the future is good. One has to find the balance though between what you can afford to save and what it takes to live. I'd like to save nearly 100% of my weekly wage, but it is just not possible due to daily living expenses. One needs liquid cash you can access easily without paying fees. $20,000 hard earned saved dollars that will cost 20% -30% early withdrawel fee to withdraw will actually cost more than putting less in this savings vehicle and keeping more in more liquid assets such as simple savings, cd's or checking. It's great you have this fiscal responsiblity and drive.
You guys who are talking about how she needs to have money to live etc., are forgetting that this is just her salary from her job. Her rent and all of that stuff is coming from CashDuck. Use your brains people- she hasn't totally lost it! :-)
I definitely wouldn't put all my savings in a retirement vehicle either. I didn't start maxing the retirement account until I got to $200k or so in non-retirement accounts (always put the minimum required for my job - which was often quite a lot).
Wow 86%, Girl I must say, you are BRAVE. But I guess with $15 saved why worry ! good for you
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