Comments on: Six 10-Minute Money Moves That Can Change Your Life

By: Keith

Keith — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 05:08:36 +0000

Ben-
Doing the balance transfer bit will hurt your score for a lttle while (new revolving credit). But if you have enough credit card debt to need to do it, you probably won’t be applying for loans anyway.

By: fivecentnickel.com

fivecentnickel.com — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 04:41:54 +0000

Weekly Roundup – 03/02/07

Here’s a quick look at some of the articles that caught my eye over the past week:

FMF shed some light on how they’re budgeting for their Disney trip. If they were regular visitors (doesn’t sound like they are, though) I’d rec…

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 18:03:06 +0000

Great post!
In terms of having more than one Roth IRA, I think it’s a great idea. I have an international index fund Roth and now I also have a domestic (well, mostly domestic) index fund Roth IRA.
The one problem with having more than one is that it is difficult to open a new Roth IRA because most funds have an opening minimum of $3000 which is 75% of the yearly max of $4000.
However, it’s possible to reach this by opening the new one between January 1st and when you file your taxes because you can contribute from both years (so right now you could contribute for both 2006 and 2007.) I wrote a post about how to do this here: http://moneyfortherestofus.com/2007/01/26/a-trick-to-reaching-roth-ira-mutual-fund-minimums/

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 11:06:14 +0000

Just remember the limitations on RIRA based off of AGI’s.

Second, since you can get one credit report from each company a year, it is advisable to only request one credit report per quarter. this way you can monitor your credit history for free for the whole year under the free annual credit report law.

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 06:01:34 +0000

I’ve done all but 0% Balance Transfers. I read a lot about it but I’m still not sold on this one. Doesn’t it hurt your credit to sign up for all those credit cards?

By: twins15

twins15 — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 21:49:23 +0000

Finally got around to requesting my credit report… thanks for the reminder.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 21:06:11 +0000

In addition the getting your credit report, I think most people would like to see their credit score. Most companies have charged for this in the past. However, I noticed the other day that E-Loan is now offering a free credit score to anyone.

By: Dustin

Dustin — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:00:28 +0000

I have always called Split your Paycheck “Pay Yourself First”. I really like this idea. In fact I do it with my Roth.

I would also have to add purchasing a home to this list, but then again that doesn’t take just 10 minutes.

By: Tinyhands

Tinyhands — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:52:10 +0000

Individuals can hold and contribute to more than one Roth IRA in the same year as long as the total contribution doesn’t exceed $4000 ($5000 for over-50). You could put $1000 into 4 different ones ($500 into 8, $1k/$1k/$2k into 3, etc) if you had a good reason for doing so.

Individuals can also contribute to the different kinds of IRA in the same year as long as the total contribution doesn’t exceed $4000 ($5000 for over-50). You could put $2000 into a Traditional IRA and $2000 into a Roth IRA (and myriad other combinations). Again, if you had a good reason for doing so.

Although habit is a good reason for participating in a 401k, even without the match you still enjoy the tax-deferral benefit (assuming it’s a qualified plan, as most are). 401k contributions, like rollover distributions from previous employers, have no impact on IRA contribution limits.

By: saving advice

saving advice — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 16:10:02 +0000

I would have placed “pay off debt” as number 6 and use the credit card as an example of how to possible do it – the transfer will be of little help if you don’t make the commitment to pay off the debt…

By: RootAnn

RootAnn — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 15:41:03 +0000

Clever Dude: My husband has more than one Roth IRA. To keep things simple, he only contributes to one each year. Each is with a different investment company and has different choices.

It is good to contribute to 401ks even if your employer doesn’t match (mine never did). In your case, it is good to get into the habit now and when the employer starts kicking in the match – it’ll make your balance look even better. Also, if you start now, when you get your next raise (which I’m sure will be soon, since you are a ‘clever dude’), you can increase the amount you are contributing by a little bit (1-3%). If you didn’t start until the match kicks in, you would probably start at a lower contribution rate (where you started now, before the raise increase). Saving without the pain!

By: jim

jim — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:42:18 +0000

Your total contribution each year towards a Roth IRA can’t exceed your limits ($4,000 for most), I suppose you could have more than one (I don’t know this for sure) but it could get complicated for you.

I contribute to my employer’s 401k and there isn’t even a match. You should do it so that you’re saving a little bit of money for your retirement at the very least I think.

By: Clever Dude

Clever Dude — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:34:46 +0000

Can I have more than one Roth IRA? Do they count my yearly contributions as a combined total among all my roth IRAs?

What do you think about contributing to a 401k even if the company doesn’t match until your 1 year anniversary?