Retirement Planning Archives – Michele Cagan, CPA

How to Open a Roth IRA in Under 30 Minutes

10/07/2020
Building a Nest, investing, personal finance, Protect Your Financial Future, retirement, Retirement Planning, Saving and Investing, Single Mom CPA, taxes, The Basics, Uncategorized

You need to do this today. Single moms – women in general, actually – are waaayyyyyy behind when it comes to retirement savings. We all have plenty of reasons for this… but when we’re 80 and out of money, those reasons won’t matter at all. So today we are going to take 30 minutes to open up Roth IRA accounts. We’re focusing on Roth IRAs specifically because you always have free and complete access to the money you put in. This takes a huge barrier out of the way of retirement savings: This money is not locked up, and you…

Avoid Target-Date Retirement Fund Traps

09/01/2020
Building a Nest, Protect Your Financial Future, Retirement Planning, Saving and Investing, Single Mom CPA, The Basics

What you don’t know about target-date funds can hurt you Note: This article contains affiliate links. I may receive compensation if you click on them. Thank you for your support. When your to-do list is already a mile too long, it’s tempting to go the easiest ways to get things done. That’s especially true when it comes to financial matters – like retirement savings – that seem complicated. That’s why so many single moms go with the hands-off, no-worries choice in their retirement plans: target date retirement funds. The whole point of these is to pick one, then ignore it…

Ladies, We Need to Save More for Retirement

10/26/2019
Retirement Planning, Saving and Investing, Single Mom CPA

Overcome Anti-Woman Retirement Obstacles to Fully Fund Your Future Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, I may receive a commission. It’s harder for women to save money for retirement – that’s just a fact. And that can leave many of us in a dicey situation when we’re ready to stop working, or can’t work anymore. The world throws a bunch of obstacles at us that can get in the way of building secure retirement nest eggs: We earn less than men, and that affects our entire lifetime earnings – when you start…

Quick Guide: How to Open a SEP-IRA in 4 Easy Steps

02/09/2018
Retirement Planning, Saving and Investing, Single Mom CPA

UPDATED FOR 2019 If you’re self-employed, have no employees, and are looking for a place to stash a lot of retirement cash without a lot of hassle, look no further than the SEP-IRA. This amped up retirement savings plan works well for freelancers and side-giggers. (If you have employees, it’s still a good plan, just a little more involved. Find out more here.) The Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) is super easy to set up and administer, with truly minimal paperwork. In fact, the form to establish a SEP is just one page. And you never have to file any plan…

Why Your Kid Needs a Roth IRA

01/09/2018
Kids and Money, Protect Your Financial Future, Retirement Planning, Saving and Investing, Single Mom CPA

If your child earns income from a job – even if it’s working for you – it’s time to open a Roth IRA. Better than a regular savings account, all the money invested through a Roth IRA grows tax-free. And since your child almost certainly qualifies for the lowest possible tax rate (if income taxes kick in at all) now, he or she will end up paying less in taxes – keeping more of their own money – overall. And unlike other types of retirement accounts, the money your child contributes is accessible without any tax penalties. That means he…