Since returning to corporate life about a year ago, I have also just had my 2nd child, Siena.
Seeing that I have added to my existing lack of time problem, rather than reduced it, I still have trouble finding adequate time to do all of the financial things I want to do. (Let alone get around to paying the taxes!) I do spend at least 1-2 hours a week organizing my financial life. That can range from monitoring my finances and bill payments, to filing papers, to opening new accounts on occasion.
Since I began this site, Lending Club and SmartyPig have become important saving and investment vehicles for me.
I have also opened a Whole Life Insurance product for my husband as a retirement vehicle, and one for my daughter as a college and retirement vehicle down the line. (This is made possible through loans and dividend payments, more explained here). I actually ended up with Ohio National as the company for these rather than Mass Mutual, but either way you would want to pick a very high rated insurance company if you are considering this option, and research more about using the cash account for loans because the options vary greatly by company. For what I selected, the benefit is that I continue to earn a dividend on the cash value of the account, even if I take out a loan, so I can borrow against it for a good overall rate, and then can also continue to earn. Once retirement approaches, I can borrow against the loan for certain increments, which aren’t considered taxable income, and then have the remaining loan paid off upon death. This takes an advisor to get right, so don’t attempt all of the calculations for one of these on your own.
Yet, after all of those options, I still find managing anything stock market related to be something I don’t want to spend more of my time on getting exactly right. I have a Roth 401K at my current employer which I rebalance and monitor about once every 3 months. Now that I’ve been there a year, I have to increase my savings there to 4% to get the company match (an obvious no-brainer). I mostly move between funds and when volatile I may move some of the balance into a stable account.
Beyond that, I haven’t played with the stock market since dabbling in high school. And I don’t want to. So, while I know its been around for a while, I was very excited to noticed the Betterment.com investment site one day while logging into Mint.com. Betterment charges a fee like all mutual funds do, but I equate it to be similar to a fund in terms of investing. Its an easy way to invest in the stock market with brokers that make things simple and transparent. So far, I have invested a bit in a Roth IRA there. The earnings are not staggering (like they are at Lending Club), but hey are positive. I have only been invested about 1 month, so I will continue to montior and see if it provides a valuable return for the fee.
I think more and more sites like this will start to emerge that empower people to invest without an in-person broker, with varying fee structures and return strategies. I can’t wait to try out more of them as them emerge, so please let me know of others in the comments below!
You can earn a free $25 by starting a new Betterment.com investment account.
(Note the $25 only applies to a regular investment account, not a Roth IRA)
{ 0 comments }
