Reader’s Question: What To Invest In After The Company Match

What To Invest In After The Company Match
What To Invest In After The Company Match

Your 401k retirement plan is not an emergency fundHere is the next installment in our the Reader’s Questions Series which highlight questions emailed to me by you, the readers of Money Q&A. Be sure to find out at the end of this article how you can receive a free copy of Dave Ramsey’s book, The Total Money Makeover if your money question is chosen to be featured on the blog.

If you’re not familiar with Dave Ramsey’s book, you should run right out and get it. It is one  of my top ten best personal finance books that everyone should read. Now….on to our reader’s question. I recently received an email from a reader, Ralph, who ask…

I’ve been investing more than my company’s match. So for instance if my401k company match is 5% and I invest 10%, is it better to continue or just invest the 5% that’ll get the match and invest the rest in a Roth IRA?

This is a great question that a lot of investors have to tackle when they are deciding where to put those finite investing dollars to work. You often can’t be everywhere at once.

So, the real question is where to start and where to go after you get going with your retirement investing. There are several things that you should consider in order to maximize your savings and minimize your tax liability as well.

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Betterment Review – An Easy Way To Start Investing

Betterment

Betterment is an investing website that tackles the perceived complexity of investing head on. I hear it time and time again from the readers of Money Q&A and even my own family members that they simply are scared to invest because they think that it is too complicated. Betterment works to break down that notion and makes investing a simple process that is goal oriented. While Betterment is essentially a stock brokerage firm, it takes the title to a new level targeting the segment of potential investors that have been sorely lacking representation, the new or novice investor. While even experienced investors can receive a lot of value from the company’s approach, the company’s niche is the new investor who … Read more

Dissecting My Twelve Loans That Defaulted On Lending Club

Lending Club Passive Income With Automated Investing

Lending Club Passive Income With Automated InvestingLast week I made a horrible confession. I am a greedy investor, or more importantly, I WAS a greedy investor when it came to my Lending Club account and investing in peer to peer lending loans. But, I have learned the errors of my ways. I love Lending Club and the idea of earning a great rate of return by investing directly in peer to peer loans of people who need funding and may not otherwise receive it.

So, I’m not giving up on investing in peer to peer lending through Lending Club. I’m trying to be a better loan picker and evaluator. So, here are a few areas that my Lending Club default loans have in common. Maybe by understanding a little more about why these may have defaulted, I can avoid making similar mistakes going forward in the future with new peer to peer loans.

Traits Of My Defaulted Peer To Peer Lending Loans

36 Month Maturities

Every single one of the 12 loans that I have that defaulted have a 36 month length of maturity. This is a little hard to gauge because I started investing in some of these peer to peer loans before Lending Club started offering five year loans.

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How I Got Greedy and Lost My Shirt with Peer To Peer Lending Loans

I completely messed up investing in peer-to-peer loans through Lending Club because I was greedy. Jim Cramer is famous for saying that both bulls and bears can make money, but pigs get slaughtered. What he means is that it is one thing to make money or make a living with your investments. But, to try and make a killing on them, you will often be crushed by those very same investments. I’m ashamed that I got greedy with my Lending Club investments, tried to push the envelope, and got burnt. Keep reading to see what happened and what I’m doing now with the new loans I’m investing in through Lending Club. Peer To Peer Loans And Lending Is Awesome I don’t … Read more