One of the best ways to teach younger generations about retirement savings is to help them realize the power of investing. You can do this by helping them fund Traditional or Roth IRA accounts. Anyone who has W-2 job income, even from summer or part-time jobs, can contribute to an IRA, even if they are minors. The IRS sets contribution limits and periodically adjusts these amounts for inflation. Once a younger generation family member gets a “real job,” you might be able to afford to help him or her contribute to a retirement savings plan at work. Not only is this a good investment for the youngster but it may also be a good investment for you, insofar as the sooner you can teach younger generations about financial responsibility and the impact of consistent periodic investing, the better chance of your not having to help them out as much later in life.
Smart Money Tips
Thoughts from the legendary Jack Bogle, the late founder of Vanguard:
- Buying funds based purely on their past performance is one of the stupidest things an investor can do.
- Don’t just do something, stand there.
Food for Thought
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Money Can Be Funny
The only way to solve the traffic problems of the country is to pass a law that only paid-for cars are allowed to use the highways.
-Will Rogers
Word of the Week
contumacious (kon-t(y)oo-MAY-shuhs; kon-tuh-) adjective –
Obstinate; stubbornly disobedient; persistently, willfully, or overtly
defiant of authority.
Origin: From Latin contumax, contumac-, “swollen,” hence, “insolent.”
The cadet did not fit in at West Point; he harassed his commanding
officers, refused to follow the rules, and persistently defied his
professors. Still, they would curb his contumacious nature before
graduation.