How long for retirement?

I'm 26 and on track to retire when I die. I'm putting a good bit in my 401 k though so hopefully it'll be nice and fat when I'm in my mid to late 50s

 

Yeah ... I think it's called "re-characterization" when you pay all the taxes due on a traditional IRA and roll it into a Roth. I may be wrong but I was thinking that you could only roll over a certain amount each year into the Roth after you paid the taxes on it.

Also had something of a "windfall" with my wife too. When we got married about 10 years ago, she moved up here from Florence SC and went to work as a MT at our local hospital. She had to quit about 2 years ago because her mother came down with cancer so she moved back to Florence so she could care for her mom and started working at McLeods Regional Hospital where she had been working prior to our marriage. She didn't know and I didn't know that she had a pension with the hospital here in Monroe so about 6 month after she went back to Florence she got a check for $60,000 which we rolled over to her traditional IRA. Could have knocked me over with a straw ... had no idea she had that coming ... in fact I thought they must have made a mistake but she called up HR and they verified that it was real and she was entitled to it. Sometimes the Good Lord just knocks my socks off ...

 

You will do well ... nobody ever went broke betting on the strength of the American economy ... which is not to say that there wont be many ups and downs ... but you have the timeframe to weather the roller coaster ride. Just choose your funds carefully

 

Now-a-days you have to set your retirement yourself. You go to where you'll make it on your retirement only plus cost of living adjustments. It's never to early to start and you'll be thankful that you did some planning. I was always looking for the day to stop working and my plan allowed me to go out at 55. I was very lucky to get hired on to a large oil company that actually had 3 retirement programs and I invested in all 3.. You will not see those plans any longer. It a shame because if a driver invested the amount to get the max out of the company that driver could retire a millionaire. I would suggest going to a good investor for advice. They can tell you about what's best for the time. I had one that put me into an annuity that is paying me a profit now. It was a side investment that really paid off. I had no idea what they were or how to buy one. So I believe a professional is the best way you can plan your future.

 

when they put me in the ground