topic Re: Saving for my future! in Personal Finance

Saving for my future!

linux007969 — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 04:31:46 GMT

So I finally am doing it! I just recieved my tax refund direct deposited in my bank and I opened an Online High Yield Savings Account with Discover so I can earn 0.85% APY and get 24/7 awesome customer service whenever i need it while saving for my future. I am also planning on putting my cash rewards into it once i reach $200, which right now i have over $130 so i'm close but a lil far away but its still a reachable goal.

I also opened a Roth IRA with Merrill Edge (Merrill Lynch) to start saving for my retirement. I also am looking to dump my cash rewards from both of my credit cards with Bank of America into my account in which i will also get some sort of bonus for doing so from what i can gather. By redeeming my cash rewards into my Roth IRA I will be using todays spending to save for my future which is a pretty awesome plan!

Opening those accounts were a bit of a task so far.....

With Discover, I ended up having to do it over the phone with a very nice rep cuz it glitched up with my checking account information. Upon signing up with a rep i expressed some major feedback that they should have had all my information to begin with since I had a Discover Card and used my Discover Card creds to attempt to signup. The rep said how they are seperate and that they are working on intergrating the two. (I though that was quite odd to begin with as Discover Card is issued by Discover Bank so they are one in the same) Once I signed up with a rep then i was informed that it would be 48 hours till i can register online and that I need to sign a signature card that will come with the welcome information in the mail or i can sign it online when i register which i will do that as i don't feel i have the send it to them.

With Merrill, I signed up online and everything went through and said they need to review and i will here back in 1 to 2 business days. Early this morning I recieved a call from their New York office to confirm that I opened the Roth IRA as I had a fraud alert on my account, after I answered all the verfication questions then the rep said i am approved and will recieve an email confirmation shortly. After I recieved the confirm email I went to login to the account and i went to see about transfering funds and it had forms to download and fill out and fax or mail it in..... I was thinking what kind of old school hoops do they want me to jump through? I called and talked to someone in Client Services or whatever and they said I can actually do it from my banks end and push it to my Roth IRA. I didn't think to ask how as i figured it would just be easier on PNC's end.

I logged into PNC and poked around and it had the option of transfering funds to an external account so i chose that, and i found "Merrill Lynch Brokeage" since that was the closest match and the only match to Merrill at all I chose that. It then wanted the Brokeage account number which i would put my Roth IRA account number in and then it also wanted a checking number which i didn't have and so I called Merrill again and was on hold for over 20 minutes and then i didn't want to wait any longer so i called another number and waited only a lil while and got someone who was able to give me a AB routing number and said i have to call back in 24 hours to get the checking number as my account isn't fully set up (which was strange as I was able to log into it and set some things up and poke around).

Once I get through some of these hoops i am jumping through I really hope it will be smooth sailing from here on out!

I just wanted to share this with everyone I know this whole myfico website is all about credit but the things I am talking about are products from Credit Card Companies and tie into my credit in a few ways so i thought it was relevant for sharing!

Re: Saving for my future!

Pupeitmeister — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 22:28:21 GMT

@linux

This is one of the most inspirational posts i have read in a long time. You are definetly working on a fine plan for your future!

I am proud of you for doing this and posting your plan!

Re: Saving for my future!

barbaralee — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 05:14:34 GMT

That is awesome! Congrats!! But I do have a question... For your PNC transfer were you able to do it without any fees? I was at the branch last week and they told me with my type of account to transfer from PNC to external (Charles Schwab) it would be $25. I have the Virtual Wallet Performance account. I haven't poked around on my online banking to see how accurate that is and in the meantime I have to make the transfer from Schwab.

Re: Saving for my future!

linux007969 — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 23:23:09 GMT

@barbaralee wrote:
That is awesome! Congrats!! But I do have a question... For your PNC transfer were you able to do it without any fees? I was at the branch last week and they told me with my type of account to transfer from PNC to external (Charles Schwab) it would be $25. I have the Virtual Wallet Performance account. I haven't poked around on my online banking to see how accurate that is and in the meantime I have to make the transfer from Schwab.

From what i can see when i looked at the list of fees, the $25 you are refering to is for a Domestic Outgoing Wire. Doesn't not mention anything for linking external accounts.

From what i have been able to research and call pnc, and call merrill, and bofa.... I am not able to transfer money directly from my pnc account to my roth unless i would sign and send the form in by mail or fax.

What i did no was open a Cash Management Account which gives me a checking account that i can link to and transfer money into it from pnc and then later into the roth itself. We'll see once everything gets set up.

Re: Saving for my future!

barbaralee — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 00:50:00 GMT

I am not 100% sure what is the difference between a wire transfer and a transfer to an external account. Like if I transfer to an external account does it have to be through wire? Anyway, I went onto my online banking with PNC and chose the EXTERNAL TRANSFERS option and put in my Charles Schwab information. They have to do the test deposits, and then I will be able to attempt to do some transfers. I don't think there should be, a lot of banks are doing away with fees associated with transfering deposits to external accounts. But in a way, it wouldn't surprise me, PNC can be very bad when it comes to fees.

Are you not able to do this transfer because it is to a Roth account or because it is external?

Re: Saving for my future!

linux007969 — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 01:05:12 GMT

@barbaralee wrote:
I am not 100% sure what is the difference between a wire transfer and a transfer to an external account. Like if I transfer to an external account does it have to be through wire? Anyway, I went onto my online banking with PNC and chose the EXTERNAL TRANSFERS option and put in my Charles Schwab information. They have to do the test deposits, and then I will be able to attempt to do some transfers. I don't think there should be, a lot of banks are doing away with fees associated with transfering deposits to external accounts. But in a way, it wouldn't surprise me, PNC can be very bad when it comes to fees.

Are you not able to do this transfer because it is to a Roth account or because it is external?

linking an external account is using ACH just like when you link your bank account to your credit card accounts.

Wires you have to call into the pnc call center from like 8am to 4pm, i found that out last night when i was looking for options.

i am not able to transfer directly into the roth cuz its the way Merril has things set up. But if i can get it transfered into cash management, then i should be able to transfer it transfer it from there.

Re: Saving for my future!

thom02099 — Thu, 13 Mar 2014 15:15:53 GMT

BIG KUDOS and CONGRATS on planning for your future ! ! !

Don't know how old you are, but this is a great beginning and you won't be sorry that you've got this sort of resolve to save.

Continued SUCCESS to you ! ! !

ONWARD AND UPWARD ! ! !

Re: Saving for my future!

linux007969 — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 22:51:30 GMT

@thom02099 wrote:
BIG KUDOS and CONGRATS on planning for your future ! ! !

Don't know how old you are, but this is a great beginning and you won't be sorry that you've got this sort of resolve to save.

Continued SUCCESS to you ! ! !

ONWARD AND UPWARD ! ! !

Thanks! I'm 24 years old!

Re: Saving for my future!

linux007969 — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 22:59:20 GMT

***Update***

So I did open a Cash Management account with Merrill Edge, once it was fully opened I called and got my Checking account number and i put it in the Transfer Funds section on my PNC checking account to link it as an external account, and PNC verified it with some test deposits and it worked!

So I transfered $627 into the Cash Management account and once that becomes available then I will transfer $527 into the Roth, leaving $100 in the Cash Management account to keep it open.

I also was able to link the Cash Management account to my BofA Credit cards so the rewards get deposited into it and earn me bonus money and help me save up faster for my future!

So looks like things are good!

Re: Saving for my future!

lg8302ch — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 01:52:38 GMT

Wonderful plan....Happy savings

Re: Saving for my future!

Revelate — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 23:36:51 GMT

FWIW, contribute as much as possible to the Roth account if we're talking savings beyond the emergency reserve for any post-tax money. Compound interest works best with the largest possible amount you can start with. Think have another month to contribute, sadly I'm just above the income line for contributing to a Roth. Go go 401k maximization in my case.

Re: Saving for my future!

linux007969 — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 23:46:07 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
FWIW, contribute as much as possible to the Roth account if we're talking savings beyond the emergency reserve for any post-tax money. Compound interest works best with the largest possible amount you can start with. Think have another month to contribute, sadly I'm just above the income line for contributing to a Roth. Go go 401k maximization in my case.

I am only able to do the $527 this month. For emergancy money that's what my Discover High Yield Savings is for, and also the plan is too with my Cash Management account that once i make the transfers into it, that will give me a few days to change my mind if i need to use the money or simply put it in my Roth like i would plan to.

I am planning on looking into Treasury Notes and Municipal Bonds so i can get a steady return with less risk vs regular stock market, etc. the only thing that could happen i guess is if the rates go up i lose out, if i understand that correctly.

Any Secrets for turing my Roth into $1Million by the retirement age since I am still very young yet?

Re: Saving for my future!

Kenny — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 00:54:59 GMT

@linux007969 wrote:
@Revelate wrote:
FWIW, contribute as much as possible to the Roth account if we're talking savings beyond the emergency reserve for any post-tax money. Compound interest works best with the largest possible amount you can start with. Think have another month to contribute, sadly I'm just above the income line for contributing to a Roth. Go go 401k maximization in my case.

I am only able to do the $527 this month. For emergancy money that's what my Discover High Yield Savings is for, and also the plan is too with my Cash Management account that once i make the transfers into it, that will give me a few days to change my mind if i need to use the money or simply put it in my Roth like i would plan to.

I am planning on looking into Treasury Notes and Municipal Bonds so i can get a steady return with less risk vs regular stock market, etc. the only thing that could happen i guess is if the rates go up i lose out, if i understand that correctly.

Any Secrets for turing my Roth into $1Million by the retirement age since I am still very young yet?

Spend little, make saving a priority and make regular good sized payments early in life.

Re: Saving for my future!

Revelate — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 01:31:09 GMT

@linux007969 wrote:
@Revelate wrote:
FWIW, contribute as much as possible to the Roth account if we're talking savings beyond the emergency reserve for any post-tax money. Compound interest works best with the largest possible amount you can start with. Think have another month to contribute, sadly I'm just above the income line for contributing to a Roth. Go go 401k maximization in my case.

I am only able to do the $527 this month. For emergancy money that's what my Discover High Yield Savings is for, and also the plan is too with my Cash Management account that once i make the transfers into it, that will give me a few days to change my mind if i need to use the money or simply put it in my Roth like i would plan to.

I am planning on looking into Treasury Notes and Municipal Bonds so i can get a steady return with less risk vs regular stock market, etc. the only thing that could happen i guess is if the rates go up i lose out, if i understand that correctly.

Any Secrets for turing my Roth into $1Million by the retirement age since I am still very young yet?

Virtually every professional financial advisor would advise against having the bulk of your savings being in T-notes and munis at your age. Further even for people in retirement now, given that people are living much longer (compared to the theoretical retirement age which hasn't moved) the folks I follow advocate that some percentage should still be in growth stocks by at that point.

While the stock market isn't for everyone, I would strongly suggest doing some research on the actual performance over time. Additionally the Roth, while it should be your first in line for post tax savings isn't the only one you should be pursuing over time as the contribution limits tend to be low; however, how that should be allocated is way beyond the scope of this forum.

Really at your age unless you have a significant health issue, I'd prioritize putting as much money as you can in this year to the Roth as you're limited to a total amount you can contribute each year, then rebuild your savings next year before getting set for the 2014 contribution.

Re: Saving for my future!

mongstradamus — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 01:39:24 GMT

I am in now way shape or form an financial guru, but safest way I would play it with some cheap index funds.it will diversify your portfolio and you won't be paying hefty fees to active fund managers. If possible try to max out your 401k/IRA every year .

Re: Saving for my future!

Crisis — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 01:48:33 GMT

@linux007969 wrote:
So I finally am doing it! I just recieved my tax refund direct deposited in my bank and I opened an Online High Yield Savings Account with Discover so I can earn 0.85% APY and get 24/7 awesome customer service whenever i need it while saving for my future. I am also planning on putting my cash rewards into it once i reach $200, which right now i have over $130 so i'm close but a lil far away but its still a reachable goal.

I also opened a Roth IRA with Merrill Edge (Merrill Lynch) to start saving for my retirement. I also am looking to dump my cash rewards from both of my credit cards with Bank of America into my account in which i will also get some sort of bonus for doing so from what i can gather. By redeeming my cash rewards into my Roth IRA I will be using todays spending to save for my future which is a pretty awesome plan!

Opening those accounts were a bit of a task so far.....

With Discover, I ended up having to do it over the phone with a very nice rep cuz it glitched up with my checking account information. Upon signing up with a rep i expressed some major feedback that they should have had all my information to begin with since I had a Discover Card and used my Discover Card creds to attempt to signup. The rep said how they are seperate and that they are working on intergrating the two. (I though that was quite odd to begin with as Discover Card is issued by Discover Bank so they are one in the same) Once I signed up with a rep then i was informed that it would be 48 hours till i can register online and that I need to sign a signature card that will come with the welcome information in the mail or i can sign it online when i register which i will do that as i don't feel i have the send it to them.

With Merrill, I signed up online and everything went through and said they need to review and i will here back in 1 to 2 business days. Early this morning I recieved a call from their New York office to confirm that I opened the Roth IRA as I had a fraud alert on my account, after I answered all the verfication questions then the rep said i am approved and will recieve an email confirmation shortly. After I recieved the confirm email I went to login to the account and i went to see about transfering funds and it had forms to download and fill out and fax or mail it in..... I was thinking what kind of old school hoops do they want me to jump through? I called and talked to someone in Client Services or whatever and they said I can actually do it from my banks end and push it to my Roth IRA. I didn't think to ask how as i figured it would just be easier on PNC's end.

I logged into PNC and poked around and it had the option of transfering funds to an external account so i chose that, and i found "Merrill Lynch Brokeage" since that was the closest match and the only match to Merrill at all I chose that. It then wanted the Brokeage account number which i would put my Roth IRA account number in and then it also wanted a checking number which i didn't have and so I called Merrill again and was on hold for over 20 minutes and then i didn't want to wait any longer so i called another number and waited only a lil while and got someone who was able to give me a AB routing number and said i have to call back in 24 hours to get the checking number as my account isn't fully set up (which was strange as I was able to log into it and set some things up and poke around).

Once I get through some of these hoops i am jumping through I really hope it will be smooth sailing from here on out!

I just wanted to share this with everyone I know this whole myfico website is all about credit but the things I am talking about are products from Credit Card Companies and tie into my credit in a few ways so i thought it was relevant for sharing!

Congratulations! Good luck with your future

Re: Saving for my future!

linux007969 — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 03:19:35 GMT

@Revelate wrote:
@linux007969 wrote:
@Revelate wrote:
FWIW, contribute as much as possible to the Roth account if we're talking savings beyond the emergency reserve for any post-tax money. Compound interest works best with the largest possible amount you can start with. Think have another month to contribute, sadly I'm just above the income line for contributing to a Roth. Go go 401k maximization in my case.

I am only able to do the $527 this month. For emergancy money that's what my Discover High Yield Savings is for, and also the plan is too with my Cash Management account that once i make the transfers into it, that will give me a few days to change my mind if i need to use the money or simply put it in my Roth like i would plan to.

I am planning on looking into Treasury Notes and Municipal Bonds so i can get a steady return with less risk vs regular stock market, etc. the only thing that could happen i guess is if the rates go up i lose out, if i understand that correctly.

Any Secrets for turing my Roth into $1Million by the retirement age since I am still very young yet?
Virtually every professional financial advisor would advise against having the bulk of your savings being in T-notes and munis at your age. Further even for people in retirement now, given that people are living much longer (compared to the theoretical retirement age which hasn't moved) the folks I follow advocate that some percentage should still be in growth stocks by at that point.

While the stock market isn't for everyone, I would strongly suggest doing some research on the actual performance over time. Additionally the Roth, while it should be your first in line for post tax savings isn't the only one you should be pursuing over time as the contribution limits tend to be low; however, how that should be allocated is way beyond the scope of this forum.

Really at your age unless you have a significant health issue, I'd prioritize putting as much money as you can in this year to the Roth as you're limited to a total amount you can contribute each year, then rebuild your savings next year before getting set for the 2014 contribution.

So once i "test the waters" with a few T-Notes and Municipal Bonds then i need to do some research on other avenues to approach in investments.

And also what I should be doing this year is coming as close as i can to the max to jump start my Roth, then next year i can take more money for savings and split things more evenly..

Do I have this correct?

I have been watching the Suze Orman show for quite some time now and she hates financial advisors cuz of how they want to sell you something that will earn them a big comission. Also she loves Municipal Bonds, so basically i know her advice and wisdom is not the only thing out there to go by but her advise has been helpful and her show is entertaining!

Re: Saving for my future!

mongstradamus — Sun, 16 Mar 2014 06:23:08 GMT

@linux007969 wrote:
@Revelate wrote:
@linux007969 wrote:
@Revelate wrote:
FWIW, contribute as much as possible to the Roth account if we're talking savings beyond the emergency reserve for any post-tax money. Compound interest works best with the largest possible amount you can start with. Think have another month to contribute, sadly I'm just above the income line for contributing to a Roth. Go go 401k maximization in my case.

I am only able to do the $527 this month. For emergancy money that's what my Discover High Yield Savings is for, and also the plan is too with my Cash Management account that once i make the transfers into it, that will give me a few days to change my mind if i need to use the money or simply put it in my Roth like i would plan to.

I am planning on looking into Treasury Notes and Municipal Bonds so i can get a steady return with less risk vs regular stock market, etc. the only thing that could happen i guess is if the rates go up i lose out, if i understand that correctly.

Any Secrets for turing my Roth into $1Million by the retirement age since I am still very young yet?
Virtually every professional financial advisor would advise against having the bulk of your savings being in T-notes and munis at your age. Further even for people in retirement now, given that people are living much longer (compared to the theoretical retirement age which hasn't moved) the folks I follow advocate that some percentage should still be in growth stocks by at that point.

While the stock market isn't for everyone, I would strongly suggest doing some research on the actual performance over time. Additionally the Roth, while it should be your first in line for post tax savings isn't the only one you should be pursuing over time as the contribution limits tend to be low; however, how that should be allocated is way beyond the scope of this forum.

Really at your age unless you have a significant health issue, I'd prioritize putting as much money as you can in this year to the Roth as you're limited to a total amount you can contribute each year, then rebuild your savings next year before getting set for the 2014 contribution.
So once i "test the waters" with a few T-Notes and Municipal Bonds then i need to do some research on other avenues to approach in investments.

And also what I should be doing this year is coming as close as i can to the max to jump start my Roth, then next year i can take more money for savings and split things more evenly..

Do I have this correct?

I have been watching the Suze Orman show for quite some time now and she hates financial advisors cuz of how they want to sell you something that will earn them a big comission. Also she loves Municipal Bonds, so basically i know her advice and wisdom is not the only thing out there to go by but her advise has been helpful and her show is entertaining!

I would try and run an basic three fund portfolio,if in were in your shoes. Is most of it going to be in your Roth IRA? If that's the case I would go with an total bond market find over municipal since its in tax advantaged account, or you could with an REIT fund

Re: Saving for my future!

wa3more — Sun, 04 May 2014 23:52:04 GMT

Pay yourself first.

Dollar cost average every month into a low expense S&P index fund like Vangard. Put in every month regardless of what market is doing.

Don't listen to all the noise about tapering, interest rates, oil prices or what latest "expert " on CNBC is saying. All BS.

You are 24 ? You will retire at 50 by keeping it simple and having disipline.