SEATTLE — There’s been a lot of recent fear in the financial world in terms of a looming recession. Some say that it could come at the end of the year, so it would be a good idea to start saving now if you haven’t already.
If a recession hits, Wall Street will tell you to keep saving, keep putting your money in there, and stay strong.
After all this saving, what does one do with all the money that has been accumulated? If a recession comes, where do we put the money? You can do more than just save.
Use your return account in creative ways.
“The Roth is the way to go, it’s just your best tool," said tax attorney and financial expert Mark Kohler.
The Roth IRA is a great account to look at, offering a way to invest that’s easier to control.
Unlike other retirement plans like the regular IRA or 401(k), the Roth grows tax free, comes out tax free, and has penalties if you try to pull money out early, so there’s motivation to leave it alone.
Get started at a brokerage or bank and choose what you want to invest in.
With the right actions, it’s possible to be a millionaire with Roth in less than 40 years.
- Get an early start
- It takes time to saves a million dollars, usually over several decades
- Start saving in your 20s to ensure a comfortable retirement
- Compound interest is your friend
- If you invest $500 a month for 30 years, you’ll have $103,000 in your pocket because of compound interest
- Make sure you can contribute first
- You can’t contribute to a Roth if you make too much money
- If you haven’t hit cutoff income, the Roth also starts phasing out the amount that can be contributed at a certain point
- If your income is too high, set up a backdoor Roth IRA
- Consistently contribute the max amount if you can
- For 2018 those under 50 can put in $5,500 and those over 50 can add a $1,000 “catch-up contribution” so they can put in $6,500.
- For 2019, IRA has increased the contribution limits for the first time in six years. The new limits are $6,000 for those under 50 and $7,000 for those over 50.
Investing in a Roth IRA can be challenging for those who live paycheck to paycheck, but there are other ways to save.
Kohler recommended moving investments that aren’t performing well and put them in cash position. He says that if there’s a recession, there’s going to be deals, and you want to be ready to buy if there’s a problem.
Another direction to go is precious metals, which grow during a recession. Put a little more in silver and gold
Fixed returns are also great, like using an IRA to do loans, hard money loans or first trust deeds against real estate. Real estate is always a good path to choose because of the rental income coming down the road.
“We need to keep saving. We need to get addicted to it, make it a part of our behavior,” said Kohler.