A new year brings a new opportunity to contribute to your Roth IRA. Not only for your 2015 contribution, either. You can still contribute to your 2014 Roth IRA until April 15th!

The annual contribution limit for 2014 and 2015 is $5,500 (and $6,500 if you’re over 50). Don’t fret if you don’t feel you don’t have enough to contribute to your Roth IRA – $5,500 is just the limit. Not everyone has the means to contribute that amount and that’s ok. Many brokerage firms will take monthly contributions of even $50 a month. No matter what amount you choose, it all adds up. And something is better than nothing.

My recommended strategy for contributing to your retirement accounts

In order to take full advantage of your retirement accounts, you should only put money into your Roth IRA after you have contributed to your 401k up to the company match. In other words, if your employer matches 3% of your 401k contribution, your best move would be to put 3% into your 401k, and the rest into your Roth IRA in order to make the most of the tax advantages. And if you have the means to do so, contribute the match into your 401k, contribute fully into your Roth IRA, and then go back and increase your 401k contributions even more.

It’s never too late to take advantage of the options out there. Many brokerage firms have a great selection of no-load or low-load funds to chose from. A couple of my favorites are Vanguard and Fidelity. Check them out – sooner is better than later!

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