Saving for IRA/401k during residency?

[codeblue34]

Hi, I'm an intern and my hospital doesn't offer a 401k company match or IRA program.

I met with a fin advisor and he recommened a roth ira... if i were to max it out annually, i'd have to put down $335 a month.

my take home pay is $1170 (net pay), and with a mortgage, bills, car, etc., it's going to be king of tough to put together. (i am deferring my loans.) i want to have alittle $ to go out and such.

thus, this leads me to several questions:
1. does your hospital offer a company match for 401k?
2. are you able to put $ towards retirement plan or ira? if so, how much?

are most of you waiting to save for retirement until after residency (and you make more money?)

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[Sol Rosenberg]

Save what you can. You don't have to max out the Roth IRA. It's much better to keep a little cash, rather than rack up credit card bills because you put too much away (though the good thing about a Roth IRA is that you can always withdraw your contributions with no penalty if you get into a financial bind.)

 

[UserNameNeeded]

Save what you can. You don't have to max out the Roth IRA. It's much better to keep a little cash, rather than rack up credit card bills because you put too much away (though the good thing about a Roth IRA is that you can always withdraw your contributions with no penalty if you get into a financial bind.)

But you have to have your Roth account open for 5 years before you can withdraw the contributions, right?

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

But you have to have your Roth account open for 5 years before you can withdraw the contributions, right?

Could be. I don't know all the details.

 

[Clevername]

Similar situation as you but my hospital does offer 401 K and they match an "undisclosed amount"....it's "discretionary"...I don't know what that means.

I did not put any money towards IRA or 401K. I rationalized it as follows: I am not worried about retirement at this point. I will make plenty of money later and will make it a point to save for retirement when I'm an attending. I'm more concerned about my financial situation in the next 5 years or so (residency). It makes little sense for me to put money somewhere you cannot touch for the next 5 years when you could really need it.

That's my rationale.

 

[quinnie]

max your roth IRA while you still can get that interest compounding!!! once you make over a certain amount annually you will no longer be able to contribute so do it while you still can

 

[Jocomama]

No - only if you do not have a 401k or 403B should you max your IRA>
I reviewed this several years ago with 3 different unbiased financial/economic gurus, including the lead economist at Northern Trust Banks.
Hands down, always add you your 401K, 403B or SEP plan, depending upon your situation, before your IRA.
Now whether you contribute, 5%, 10 or 15% is up to your current true financial situation. If you are going to put $100 per paycheck away, then you can put 1/2 in standard Mutual Fund, if you are just starting and the other 1/2 in retirment. That is JUST an idea. Talk to parents, older siblings, or BEST - talk to someone that has a good deal of money through investing.

max your roth IRA while you still can get that interest compounding!!! once you make over a certain amount annually you will no longer be able to contribute so do it while you still can

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

No - only if you do not have a 401k or 403B should you max your IRA>
I reviewed this several years ago with 3 different unbiased financial/economic gurus, including the lead economist at Northern Trust Banks.
Hands down, always add you your 401K, 403B or SEP plan, depending upon your situation, before your IRA.
Now whether you contribute, 5%, 10 or 15% is up to your current true financial situation. If you are going to put $100 per paycheck away, then you can put 1/2 in standard Mutual Fund, if you are just starting and the other 1/2 in retirment. That is JUST an idea. Talk to parents, older siblings, or BEST - talk to someone that has a good deal of money through investing.

He said Roth IRA. The correct strategy depends upon whether your employer matches 401k/403b contributions. If they do, I'd agree with you -- contribute to your 401k/403b first, to the extent that you hit your maximum match from your employer (which could be the IRS max. per year, depending upon how much your employer matches.) Then, assuming that you are young, I would max the contribution to your Roth IRA next.

An unmatched 401k is essentially the same as a traditional IRA. For young investors, it generally makes more sense to contribute to a Roth IRA instead of a Traditional IRA. Therefore, contributing those extra $$$ to the Roth IRA instead of an unmatched 401k will generally be to your financial advantage.

If, of course, all of your contributions to your 401k are matched, then I totally agree that you should max. out your 401k contributions before considering contributing to a Roth IRA.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Similar situation as you but my hospital does offer 401 K and they match an "undisclosed amount"....it's "discretionary"...I don't know what that means.

That's really odd. It seems sort of shady to me to not tell you how much they'll match. Is it sort of like a bonus or something? If they matched in any sort of normal way, I would think that you should put away enough to get the full match because it's essentially free money. When I worked, I wanted to take as much advantage of my employer as possible. 🙂

 

[Doctor Bagel]

my take home pay is $1170 (net pay).

Monthly?? 😱 I know you mentioned mortgage, etc. -- this is before deducting that, right? I'm curious about what's attributing to it being so low. I know residents make like $35k+, so I'm thinking you should be taking home a little more than that. Are your benefits really high?