Money Questions and Answers

When Is Investing In a Roth IRA Right for You?

When Is Investing In a Roth IRA the Right Decision for You?

The following is a guest post by DJ Whiteside, who is the author of the book “Save BETTER!” and writer for My Money Design, a blog where he talks about saving his way to an early retirement and financial freedom. If you’d like to submit a guest post to Money Q&A, be sure to check out the site’s guest posting guidelines.

I know you’ve probably read this before: The financial media LOVES to recommend Roth IRA’s.

Make no mistake: Saving your money in a Roth IRA is a smart move. Pay your taxes now – enjoy tax-free income when you retire!

BUT is it always the smart move for you? In some situations, you might actually be better off going with a traditional IRA instead.

When is Investing In a Roth IRA Right?

Here are the major factors that can help you to understand when a Roth IRA might be a better fit for you over a traditional.

If You Plan to Retire With More

Do you know how much money you’re going to need when you retire?

This is the number one question that you need to ask yourself in order to pick which road you’d like to go down: The traditional-style plan or the Roth.

Generally speaking, if you plan to live on less money than you’re earning right now, then the traditional style plan will work out better. This is because if things are similar to how they are now, you’ll be in a lower tax bracket and likely pay less in taxes.

On the other hand, if you’re going to be fortunate enough to enjoy more money than you’re earning right now, then you’ll be in a higher tax bracket and would owe more in taxes. Therefore, the Roth would be your better bet.

The Brexit Effect on the Pound – How Traders Can Take Advantage

by Jeremy

In the aftermath of the UK’s historic referendum on independence from the EU, major impacts were felt across the financial markets.

Since the historic vote, the value of the British Pound opposed to the U.S. Dollar has dropped to $1.30, its lowest rate since 1985. Meanwhile, in continental Europe, share prices of Deutsche Bank and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena slumped, the latter by 80%. Global stock markets saw many UK assets plummeting, and yields on German and other government bonds fell below zero, as investors rushed to trade their bank shares for sovereign debt.

What becomes of the status of the City of London, currently the banking capital of Europe, remains to be seen, with Frankfurt, Paris, and Dublin all vying to assume the mantle. An increasing number of online traders are now turning to foreign exchange brokers, in order to capitalize on this uncertainty and the market volatility it creates, trading key currency pairs such as the GBP/USD and GBP/EUR.

The EU: a Love-Hate Relationship

The European Union remains critically important to the British economy. Almost half of all British exports are to European countries, representing 13% of overall UK GDP and providing work for an estimated 2.3 million people. When the United Kingdom leaves the EU, it is expected it will arrange a final trade agreement with the bloc within two years, to avoid heavy EU import tariffs.

Should You Stay at an All Inclusive Resort?

by Hank Coleman

Although the weather outside might not seem like it, summer is just around the corner and people are already starting to book summer travel plans. Planning a summer vacation for your family this far in advance offers many benefits including steep discounts from industries that are unsure what their summer capacities will look like (such as cruise lines), access to the best accommodations before they’re fully booked, and cheaper airfare prices. Another option that you might want to consider is staying at an all inclusive resort. But, what does all inclusive resort mean?

If you’re under a considerable amount of stress from work or life in general and don’t feel like mapping out every aspect of your summer travel plans, then staying at an all inclusive resort might be a viable option. They’re not as perfect as the advertisements try to portray, but they can help you save time and money on your next vacation. Continue reading to learn more about all inclusive resorts to determine if they’re right for your travel goals.

What Does All Inclusive Resort Mean?

Little Time for Planning? No Problem.

If you have very little time in between work and family to plan out an entire vacation, then an all-inclusive resort could help you focus on more immediate concerns without sacrificing a fun experience later on. As implied by the “all-inclusive” description, you won’t have to look around for places to eat and things to do at your destination because most of that will already be covered and readily available for you.

For some folks, this is one of the best ways to stretch your travel budget because you already know what the cost will be upfront, rather than arriving at your vacation spot and discovering new (and expensive) restaurants and activities you’d like to try.

Peer to Peer Lending Programs Face-off: Which is Better for You?

by Guest Contributor

The following is a guest post by Charley Mendoza, a freelance writer covering business and personal finance. She also moonlights as an investor, micro-entrepreneur, and adventure junkie. If you’d like to write a guest post about peer to peer lending or any other topics for Money Q&A, be sure to check out our guest posting guidelines. You want to diversify your investments, but you don’t have thousands of dollars to buy real estate or start a business. Perhaps you have an extra $300 or so a month, which you mostly invest in stocks and other paper assets. Now you want to diversify your portfolio. Peer to Peer (P2P) lending might be a good option for you. Peer to peer lending … Read more

Home Inspection Tips for Sellers – DIY Pre-Inspection Tips for Listing Your Home

by Guest Contributor

If you were selling your car you would give it a good clean inside and out as well as fixing a few minor faults in order to get the best possible price, so it makes a lot of sense to take the same approach when selling what is probably your biggest asset of all, your home.

If you are planning on selling your house it would be a good idea to walk around your property and make a list of the sort of jobs that you could tackle yourself, which is a better idea than waiting for someone else to find the sort of fixable faults that help drive the price down. 14-Day Free Trial on Home Real Estate Listing Service. Start Now at ForSaleByOwner.com!

Home Inspection Tips for Sellers

Here is a look at how to prepare your home ready for a home inspection, including some tips on how to be proactive when it comes to repairs, plus what to expect when an inspector calls, and why it often pays to come clean about any problems with the house.

Anticipating Problems

A typical scenario that can play out with a residential property deal is when a clause in the contract allows the buyer to back out of the deal or negotiate a lower price after they get the results of a home inspection carried out by a licensed professional.

If you don’t want the buyer to exercise that clause within about 7-10 days of the contract being ratified, you need to be a proactive seller and prepare your home before the home inspection is booked.

If you want the option of selling your home in its current condition and settled as is, there are options to get a cash offer when you visit WrenRealityInc.com and other sites like it, but if you want to try and maximize the amount you sell your home for, it often pays to anticipate any potential inspection problems and fix the issues beforehand.

Retirement Income Tips To Implement from Jeannette Bajalia

by Guest Contributor

The following is a guest post by Jeannette Bajalia who is the author of Planning A Purposeful Life: Secrets of Longevity, Retirement Done Right and Wi$e Up Women and president and principal advisor of Petros Estate & Retirement Planning. If you’d like to submit a guest post to Money Q&A, be sure to check out Money Q&A’s Guest Posting Guidelines.

The average person spends 30-40 years working, saving, investing and dreaming about the yellow brick road of retirement. I know this because I’m a baby boomer and have done the same.

After 38 years at my first career, I retired at 55. Recently I celebrated the 10^th anniversary of my second career, or the second chapter of my professional life as a retirement income planner.

I became a retirement income planner because, after retiring from my first career, I knew I was headed out of the savings mode – which we refer to as the accumulation phase of our lives – and into the distribution phase, meaning I now needed to use my savings as income.

Talk about a huge psychological shift!

I was an expert at savings, now I needed to learn the most efficient way to use my savings to produce predictable income streams that would last a lifetime.

On my quest to get help, I interviewed five financial advisors with one goal: To get a solid retirement plan that would ensure I didn’t run out of money before I ran out of life.