When in My Working Life is a Roth IRA a Good Idea?

Is starting a Roth IRA a good idea? This is one of the primary questions people ask when thinking about saving for retirement.

Starting an IRA is Important

Without doubt, starting an individual retirement account (IRA) is a critical step and a good idea for anyone who is getting older – and that is everyone! Retirement age will creep up on you before you know it, and starting an IRA is an easy way to contribute to your retirement savings, even if you are already in your 50s.

Before deciding whether you should start a Roth IRA, it’s important that you understand what a traditional IRA is, so you can decide whether to start a Roth IRA or a traditional IRA.

Traditional IRAs

Traditional IRAs have been around since 1981. Taxpayers can contribute up to $4,000 per year of earned income into an IRA. These contributions are tax deductible in the year they are made. Taxes on the earnings on the account holder’s contributions are deferred until they are paid out to the account holder, which cannot happen until the account holder reaches the age of 59 and one-half years.

The Other Major Type of IRA – Roth

Roth IRAs have been around since 1998. Single taxpayers who earn more than $116,000 and married taxpayers who earn more than $169,000 cannot contribute to a Roth IRA. So if you earn that much and you are asking yourself, “Should I start a Roth IRA?” the answer is definitely no. For both single and married taxpayers who earn more than $101,000, there are phased reductions in the amount an individual can contribute to a Roth IRA.

If you aren’t stopped from having a Roth IRA because of the earnings test, the answer to the question, “Should I start a Roth IRA?” is most certainly yes. Unlike a traditional IRA, the contributions an account holder makes to a Roth IRA are not tax deductible in the year in which they are made. By contrast, the amounts of contributions, and the income they earn, are not taxed during the account holder’s lifetime.

If you earn well under the income cap now, it is quite probable that you will reach the earning limit during your career, and then you will wish you had taken advantage of the Roth IRA when you had the chance to do so. Unless tax laws change significantly, a Roth IRA is one of the best investments you can make. So repeat after me: I should start a Roth IRA. I should start a Roth IRA. I should start a Roth IRA.

Investments In Your IRA

Remember that any Individual Retirement Account is only as valuable as the investments contains. Think of your IRA as an envelope that holds your retirement investments. What you choose to put inside the envelope is up to you.

There is a whole range of trading vehicles that could be suitable for your IRA. Most financial advisers suggest a blend of bonds, small capital stocks, large capital stocks, and mutual funds made up of shares in domestic companies and international companies. However, a mutual fund can also hold other kinds of investments.

IRA’s should focus on long range return. You should be more conservative as you near retirement. That is because investments are cyclical over long periods of time, based on the national economy. You don’t want to be caught short at retirement time or have to work longer than you had planned to because an economic downturn cycle occurred when you happened to reach retirement age.

Everyone Who Is Eligible Should Start a Roth IRA

The benefits of a Roth IRA over a traditional IRA are enormous: limited contributions vs. no limit on contributions; deferred tax on earnings vs. no tax on earnings. There is virtually no downside to starting a Roth IRA.