Take it to the limit

Today has been sort of a big day. Even though I'm at a record monetary low, I paid off my smaller student loan, and I made my final 2008 Roth IRA contribution.

I will welcome any bonus money that may come to me, as well as the "extra" check in January (it's a 3-check month). Both will go directly into savings. I've already "treated" myself enough this year.

Marriage and investments?

I'm currently angsting about the fact that I decided to wait until 2008 to open a Roth IRA. At the time, I was panicking about my high student loan balance, so I took a few thousand and threw it at that. The more I think about it, the more I know I should've used it to fund a Roth IRA for 2007.

My boyfriend will start his last year of law school in the fall. Right now he's got a summer associate position at one of the top firms in this city, and in all probability, they'll hire him after graduation. The starting salary is huge -- it alone is too large to qualify for a Roth IRA. Add my salary to that, and it's hopeless. Knock wood, but if we get married in the next few years, that only leaves 2 or 3 years of Roth IRA funding I can do. Not the worst problem to have, I know, but I just opened it.

Birthday Present

As a birthday present to myself, I finally opened a Roth IRA.

I knew if I didn't start out with something simple, there was a good chance I'd put it off forever, so I opened a Vanguard Target Retirement account.

Of course, now I'm sitting here tapping my fingers, waiting for them to take my initial deposit. Is this really going to take 8 days to happen? Are people going to be getting their economic stimulus checks early and start driving up the prices before I can get my shares? Does that happen? Rawr.

A word from the expert

My dad's friend works as a financial advisor, so occasionally I'll try to pick his brain for financial advice.

I thought I would get a thumbs-up on my plan for a Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 fund. Instead, he countered with Permanent Portfolio. I've never heard of it, but looking at the breakdown, it seems excessively conservative. His explanation was that this Vanguard target fund is relatively new, but Permanent Portfolio has been around since 1982, and has performed well, even in the last bear market. Ok, I'm down... maybe. The fees are higher than Vanguard's, but he said it might be worth it in the end.

I'm still worried it's not aggressive enough. Anyone want to throw any other thoughts into the pot for consideration? I'm fixin' to set this shiz to simmer while I go do my taxes [finally].

Straight up, now, tell me...

I have a confession to make.

I have yet to open a Roth IRA.

For the past year, I've yammered on to anyone who would listen about my grand retirement plans, but I've neglected to actually do anything. Now, with the economy downturn, I'm in need of some sound advice (and a push).

I am willing to contribute all or part of the 2007 max before April 15th, but keeping the current state of the economy in mind, what is the best move I can make right now?

Other factors to consider:

1. I saved 7 to 8 months worth of living expenses, the balance of which is sitting in a money market account, gaining only about the price of a movie ticket each month (because of plummeting interest rates).
2. My student loans > my savings account balance. The loans are quietly accumulating interest at a rate of 4.75%.

My original plan involved straight up index funds. Now, my options are as follows: a) do nothing, b) divert 3k+ from my savings into a new Roth IRA, or c) divert all but 3 months of living expenses to my student loan balance. This would still leave me about 9k in the hole.

Thoughts?