Tax Year buy an IRA

Posts tagged OT are off topic from HPC related topics.

With taxes coming due in a month I would like to remind people that you can still make a 2011 IRA contribution. If you do not have an IRA and you don't know what to put the money in, go to Vanguard.com and sign up for a target date fund for your retirement age.

I cannot stress how important it is to start saving early. You can use this calculator to get an idea of how much it helps. The sooner you start the less you will have to worry about in the future.

As for asset allocation don't bother picking funds, to get started use a target date fund. Once you have saved $100,000 I would look at a professional manager. Before that amount, just your contributions matter more than what your savings is earning.  Lastly ignore actively managed funds, individual stocks etc. Take a look at the very simple book: Index Funds. It includes the data showing how the extra cost of actively managed funds is greater than their fees.  Thus you can create a fire and forget setup with the help of a professional.

Be responsible, as HPC people we have all have people saying things to us: "you must be very smart!". Be another example of something smart.  Do you own research, everyone's life situation is different.