So, with the wedding rapidly approaching, finances have been a recurring theme for discussion with the fiance and I. I have been thinking lately - I do not currently have a 401K, so I put money into an IRA monthly right now. We are trying to save for a house in addition to the wedding. We took two roommates specifically to reduce monthly expenses, so we could save - between the two of us we should be saving $200-250/month. My latest thought though is this - should I suspend my IRA contribution for the next 10 to 12 months and divert those funds into the downpayment fund. That would give us an extra $100/month to save. I'm just wondering if this is wise. My gut tells me it is. I can always redivert that money into the IRA should anything happen, and my fiance contributes 10% to his 401K, with a 150% match on the first 6%, which amounts to a contribution of 19% overall. I'll be discussing this with him in the next few days. This 'we' instead of 'i' thing is harder than it seems.
House or retirement
May 13th, 2007 at 12:43 am
May 13th, 2007 at 02:33 am 1179023613
good luck
May 13th, 2007 at 02:49 am 1179024588
Are you contributing to a Roth or a traditional IRA? If it is a Roth, keep contributing as contributions (but not earnings) can be withdrawn at any time for any reason. If you need that money for the downpayment, you can get it. If not, it will already be in the Roth growing for retirement.
May 13th, 2007 at 02:50 am 1179024653
May 13th, 2007 at 10:23 am 1179051814
Also very NB to make sure YOU have enough for retirement- joint is good but make sure you dont neglect your own savings
Maybe see if you can get help financing those gorgeous expensive bundles of love and fur
May 13th, 2007 at 01:32 pm 1179063137
May 13th, 2007 at 03:56 pm 1179071793
You could continue to contribute to your IRA, and you would be covering both goals at once.
May 13th, 2007 at 04:03 pm 1179072211
That being said, the market is really in a slump right now. I am not sure there would be a huge hurry. In our case we couldn't save a down payment fast enough, and waiting would have completely and utterly priced us out for a LONG time. IT depends on your situation. I am thinking odds are though housing is in a slump where you live?
Doing both is probably wisest.