this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
75 points (91.2% liked)

Personal Finance

3857 readers
34 users here now

Learn about budgeting, saving, getting out of debt, credit, investing, and retirement planning. Join our community, read the PF Wiki, and get on top of your finances!

Note: This community is not region centric, so if you are posting anything specific to a certain region, kindly specify that in the title (something like [USA], [EU], [AUS] etc.)

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

48 years old, currently have no investments. My net worth is my car and the clothes on my back, and I don't ever want to be in this situation again.

(Edit: I don't need to buy a house or anything whatsoever related to a house, so please don't mention the "h" word in your response, it's triggering me for tangential reasons. Let me be clear, I will NEVER care about real estate whatsoever, mmmkay? Just trust me when I say I have a roof over my head and it's completely paid off, no property taxes, and No, I will never sell it, so the whole h-word" aspect of life is not a concern for me, k?)

Just looking for guidance where to invest this relatively small amount of money every month so in a few years when I'm older & frailer I'll have enough for retirement. I don't want it to just sit in my bank account, I want it to grow.

For reference, I've been living on approx $1500 per month for as long as I've noticed, so I don't need much per month, and the sooner I die, the less retirement fund I'll need, but we can never predict when anyone's death will happen, so let's assume I'll live to 100 because I'm ridiculously healthy & an exceptionally good driver, never been in an accident, one speeding ticket in my entire life, no social life so I never get into risky situations, so let's just plan for the possibility I'm going to live another 50 years.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Jakdracula 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Put that first $2k into an IRA before the end of the year.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Got it. Will do. This is the kind of advice I'm looking for because I don't understand anything about investing, all I know investing is the only way to get ahead in life. Roth IRA. Got it.

[–] Gap 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you have a choice on what stonks you invest in: pick an index fund. Don't go for single stocks.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Index fund. Got it.

[–] Jakdracula -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The max per year you can put in is $2k. Get the whole $2k in there right now.
In January, put the next $2k in.

[–] avguser 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Generic "assume everyone on the Internet is from my country." US Roth IRA contribution limits for 2023 is $6.5k, going up to $7k next year. If different country, disregard.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Aye! Thank you. Yes USA. 7,000 maximum Roth IRA annual contribution. Got it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

You can actually put money into the 2023 IRA until you file taxes, not the end of the year, if that changes anything for OP