- Top 3 401K moves and mistakes during COVID-19;
- Supercharging your savings during the coronavirus economy;
- 4 best online banks for your fully funded emergency fund;
- When is a good time to change over to Roth contributions;
- How to use your accounts when you retire;
401(k) Smart Moves And Mistakes In The COVID-19 Economy
These are some very common questions we get all day long either through email, DM or in our FB group:
- Should I stop my contributions:
Absolutely not. You are buying additional shares of your favorite mutual funds at a big discount. Buy them up! Never ever not ever stop contributing to your 401k unless you are digging yourself out of debt. - Should I accelerate my contributions
Absolutely yes! If you are out of debt and have an emergency fund in place and you can afford to contribute more even if it is temporary during this stock market downturn – please do! This will do more for your future than anything else. So simple and anyone can do it. - Should I rebalance my 401K
If you are in the correct funds (and for us that would be strong growth mutual funds that outperform the S&P 500 index and including the S&P 500 index fund – YES. If you are in some other crazy mix like our listener several weeks ago that was in 17 funds … really look at your funds and get back into an aggressive, gas pedal to the metal mix of high quality USA growth stock mutual funds and the index fund. When within 10 years of your retirement then switch over to a target date fund for the year you will retire and let it automatically back the pedal off so you are not as risky.
SAVVY SAVINGS with Amanda: Supercharge your Savings during COVID19
- Budget! Every dollar has a purpose
- Make sure everyone in your household is involved and focused on the shared goal
- Pause the baby steps and stash your cash
- Decrease spending
- Use cash instead of credit – collect your change
- Entertainment – Are there some subscriptions/memberships you can put on hold because you aren’t able to use them right now? Take advantage of all the freebies right now.
- Restaurants – You need to eat, but don’t fall for convenience of delivery; protect your family before businesses; get your shopping list together and shop as infrequently as possible. Now is the time to perfect your menu planning and discount grocery shopping. You may need to get creative with what is available at the store. Think about food items that keep longer.
- Shopping – Remove shopping apps from your phone. Remove saved credit cards from accounts like Amazon; unsubscribe from emails from shopping sites
- Evaluate necessary expenses – Maybe you can’t cut out, but can cut back! I bet you’re using less gas while your car sits in the driveway.
- Re-examine your bills – Now’s the time to evaluate your cell phone plan/company. What about your cable bill? Car insurance? Life insurance? Gym membership? Negotiate better deals, change providers, etc.
- Buy in bulk if it’s a deal – but don’t hoard
- Increase your income
- If you’re still working – is there overtime available? Extra shifts?
- Side gigs/side hustles
- Offer your services: babysit, yardwork, cleaning, organize basements, meal prep, run errands. Focus on things people don’t want to (or can’t) do themselves
- Declutter and sell, sell, sell
- Get radical
- Sell your car!
- 30 hold period for unplanned/impulse purchases
- Absolutely necessary big spends – make sure you get 3 quotes. Then, negotiate further
What do you think?
Website: https://rockonthemoney.com/
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Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/your401k/
Do you agree? Let us know and we’ll play or read your comments on the show.Call 989-888-ROCK (7625) and record your thoughts or just email us to podcast@rocklandusa.com
