Access to Retirement Funds

[Petunia 100]

Much too risky for my tastes, but I am glad it has worked out nicely for you. You're being a bit modest; you took risk but also identified ventures which did eventually pan out. There's some good business sense in there someplace.

Enjoy your rewards.

[TexasHusker]

A good friend of mine - who is probably 100 times wealthier than me and probably makes my yearly income in a single month, told me once at lunch: "You're gonna have to take some risk."

Those words put me on a different course.

[TexasHusker]

I forgot to mention my major fail attempt at the car business. Me and two other partners each shed about $50K in that boondoggle in the late 90s.

[Fishindude77]

Good work TexasHusker!
I've been self employed since 25 years old and couldn't imagine working for the other guy. Starting out I took all kinds of risk, because I didn't have all that much to lose anyway. As I've gotten older I am less tolerant of risk, because I don't have the working years left to fix a real bad screw up.

Agreed, if you want high returns, you have to take some risk. "Safe" investments equal low or moderate returns. More people should stick their necks out and try self employment instead of working for the other guy, even if it's just a side job outside of your weekly work routine.

An area I see huge opportunity in is basic residential services; lawn care, mowing, tree trimming, general cleaning, driveway sealing, snow removal, gutter cleaning, window washing, house cleaning, janitorial work, maintenance and repair, etc. For a pretty low investment, a smart hard working young person could have all of this type of work they wanted and make a good living.

[rennigade]

An area I see huge opportunity in is basic residential services; lawn care, mowing, tree trimming, general cleaning, driveway sealing, snow removal, gutter cleaning, window washing, house cleaning, janitorial work, maintenance and repair, etc. For a pretty low investment, a smart hard working young person could have all of this type of work they wanted and make a good living.

All the things you mentioned above arent anything out of the ordinary. There are lots of companies or self employed people that offer that service.

Im not sure how easy it would be to break into this kind of work and build up a business but as for someone looking to make some extra scratch on the side...theres definitely an opportunity for part time work.

[Jluke]

Then they match the $24k I put in this year with $18k.

What is your employer match? that's crazy good.

Mine is 0.75 on the first 6%... weak


based on discussions, I'm leaning (yet again) to going back to trying to max the 401k... starting in June. we'll see...

[TexasHusker]

Regardless of the percentage match, most employers cap out their match at $5K a year or less.

[Nutria]

What is your employer match? that's crazy good.

Mine is 0.75 on the first 6%... weak

That's 4%, which has been pretty standard for a couple of decades.

[corn18]

What is your employer match? that's crazy good.

Mine is 0.75 on the first 6%... weak


based on discussions, I'm leaning (yet again) to going back to trying to max the 401k... starting in June. we'll see...

It's 4% and then at the end of the year they put in 1% of my total salary. That is the same as a 5% match in my case. The real nice part is the match they put on my $6k catch up. They match that as if it is a new contribution, so that is 4% as well. This ends up looking like this:

1. $18k contribution (5% match) = $12,229 match
2. $6k catch up = $6k match

This ends up being a 7.4% match. That is really awesome.

[corn18]

Regardless of the percentage match, most employers cap out their match at $5K a year or less.

I have not heard this before.

[sv2007]

I have not heard this before.

There is a cap for all companies that I've worked at; don't remember the cap as I've been maxing out the IRS 401k limits so captured all that I can from match.

[corn18]

There is a cap for all companies that I've worked at; don't remember the cap as I've been maxing out the IRS 401k limits so captured all that I can from match.

That's a bummer. I feel fortunate to have a great 401k.

[Jluke]

That's a bummer. I feel fortunate to have a great 401k.

Yeah, in my case if I put in 6%, 10%, 20% etc... the company match is the same regardless of how much I contribute.

[sv2007]

The cap is different for each company that I've worked for; that much I know.

I briefly looked up one of the companies (just a web search so don't know if it is accurate or how current it is), the cap for this company was $9k.

[JBinKC]

Jluke you can retire before age 59 1/2 penalty free using the equal installment method of withdrawal by checking option 2 exemption on Form 5329. To calculate the withdrawal amount take your previous year's FMV of all of your IRAs and multiplty the inverse of 85 minus your current age at the time of withdrawal.