Comments on: Out Of The Mailbag – To YW Editor (Vacations from Learning)

By: HEAD IN THE SAND

HEAD IN THE SAND — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:15:56 +0000

YW is an excellent place to be commenting on other peoples actions. i would say that if they are too stressed out to learn then it will help their learning to take a break. who are you to judge other peoples madreigah

By: Aaron Chaim

Aaron Chaim — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:27:42 +0000

My Mashgiach in Gateshead, Reb Matisyohu Shlit”a once gave a Shmuess about this subject. the line that i will always remember is:
“an extended honeymoon with a Yarchei Kalla atmosphere”.
this also came in:
“UN MEN HARGET AVEK DER SHVER!!!! ROTZCHIM!!!!”

By: lgbg

lgbg — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:06:54 +0000

ortho.
thanx for explaining, but im getting more and more confused, i think i’ll just visit my bank. thank you again.

By: Orthonomics

Orthonomics — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:43:39 +0000

lgbg-I did not write you were risk taking, I wrote that investing in mutual funds via the vehicle of an IRA entails some risk and one who is really risk adverse can save via a FDIC insured CD in the form of an IRA.

KAH-WH TIDE-There are non-working spouse IRA’s. So a Kolel guy with no earned income could look into that if they have money to put away for retirement. I’m not so familiar with the non-wrking spouse IRA.

By: Proud of KAJ-WH TIDE

Proud of KAJ-WH TIDE — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:18:44 +0000

How does a kolel guy apply for an IRA? Will he ‘save’ some learning every year? How much will his ‘boss’ contribute?

By: lgbg

lgbg — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:27:26 +0000

ortho.

you said i’m taking risk-how?

By: Orthonomics

Orthonomics — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:07:54 +0000

LGBG-The ROTH is an account you tap into when you retire, but if you want to have money put aside for your senior years, you need to start putting it aside as soon as possible, the earlier the better. Unfortunately, you can never catch up if you miss early opportunities. I assume you are in your 20′s or 30′s, now is the ideal time.

By: lgbg

lgbg — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:10:27 +0000

orthonomics

thank you for explaining. I looked up on ROTH, but it said something about retirement, not that age yet.
thank you again

By: Orthonomics

Orthonomics — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:07:42 +0000

LGBG-A ROTH IRA is available to those under a certain income level (I believe the Modified Adjusted Gross Income for a married couple must be under $100K, but I don’t want to be quoted on this). You are investing post-tax dollars (i.e. there is no tax deduction for the current tax year, but in exchange for not being able to reduce taxable income you withdraw the money starting at Age 65 tax free—this is a bargain!). You can invest up to $4000 of EARNED income for 2007 (if you invest now you must put your elect investment for 2007 by Apr 15 2008). For 2008 you can invest up to $5000.

If you have regular IRAs and fall below the income level, you can also convert your IRAs to ROTH IRAs, but be warned that you already invested pre-tax dollars, so you will need to claim the entire amount of the conversion as (regular) income. If you can, it isn’t a bad idea to convert any IRAs you might have.

In addition, you might be interested in a Coverdell (aka Education IRA), which is not a retirement account at all, but an account built with post-tax dollars (withdrawn with no tax) which allows you to invest up to $2000 per year per beneficiary to be used for education expenses, both college and private schools. This is a great way to help shield income to pay for yeshiva expenses in the future. Currently the 529 College Plan is far more popular, so the banker might give you a blank look when you ask about Coverdells, but all institutions should be able to process the paperwork.

Go to your local bank and meet with a financial advisor. He/she can guide you through the application process. You will have a choice of opening a ROTH IRA Certificate of Deposit or a ROTH IRA Brokerage Account. Investing is not risk free of course, but the potential gain is far higher in the long run.

I have some information up on my blog about retirement accounts and Coverdells, however, I don’t I have covered ROTHs yet.

By: lgbg

lgbg — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:28:21 +0000

ORTHONOMICS

whats a ROTH IRA? seriously, where can i apply for it? sounds interesting