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How to save up for retirement?

X

ximhkx

Senior member
I'm 20 and i just entered the first year of pharmacy school. other than school loans, I'm debt free and looking for ways to start saving for retirement.

I currently work at walgreens and make about $800 per week and I have about $3,000 saved up.

I've heard Roth IRAs are a good way to start but I don't know what company to go with and how to invest my money otherwise.

Suggestions?
 
Originally posted by: ximhkx

I currently work at walgreens and make about $800 per week. . .
Click to expand...

Cripes, I'm in the wrong field. 🙁

Are you a hands on kinda guy or a hands off kinda person? Odds are Walgreens has an employee 401k that can be removed as a % of your paycheck. Makes it easy to save money because its removed from your check before you ever see it. Not as flexible as some other options though.

Edit - I'd also establish a good emergency fund too. If you were to lose your job, how long would that 3K last with normal living expenses? Most schools of thought seem to say that the E-Fund should be 6 months to a year of living expenses.

You are 20 years old though and have a very long time to compound interest and save money though.
 
Originally posted by: ximhkx
I'm 20 and i just entered the first year of pharmacy school. other than school loans, I'm debt free and looking for ways to start saving for retirement.

I currently work at walgreens and make about $800 per week and I have about $3,000 saved up.

I've heard Roth IRAs are a good way to start but I don't know what company to go with and how to invest my money otherwise.

Suggestions?
Click to expand...

Damn, I'm in the wrong field.
 
I have a roth ira through t. rowe price. I just bought their target fund for my age - 24. I picked them because they had no fees, and no minimums as long as you did 50 bucks a month. I also have a company matched 401k that I put up to the matching in. I'm hoping to get up to 200/mo but it's gonna take a couple years. Plus I'm saving for a house.
 
Walgreens has this profit sharing plan which if you sign up for they'll take 2% of your paycheck and they'll match that 2%. I do plan to sign up for profit sharing but I haven't been with the company long enough and theh haven't offered me that option yet.
 
i do plan to split my paycheck to set up an emergency fund but as of now I'm living at home with my parents so I'd like to focus a little more on getting something set up...seeing that I have ample opportunity right now.
 
Originally posted by: ximhkx
Walgreens has this profit sharing plan which if you sign up for they'll take 2% of your paycheck and they'll match that 2%. I do plan to sign up for profit sharing but I haven't been with the company long enough and theh haven't offered me that option yet.
Click to expand...

Do that as soon as it becomes available. There's not really many other ways to (legally) double your money like that.
 
Put money aside in a savings account while you learn how to invest it yourself. Then invest in stocks, mutual funds, whatever floats your boat. Seriously... don't trust someone you don't know to make good decisions with your money, take the time to learn how to manage your investments and do it yourself.
 
Originally posted by: ximhkx
I'm 20 and i just entered the first year of pharmacy school. other than school loans, I'm debt free and looking for ways to start saving for retirement.

I currently work at walgreens and make about $800 per week and I have about $3,000 saved up.

I've heard Roth IRAs are a good way to start but I don't know what company to go with and how to invest my money otherwise.

Suggestions?
Click to expand...

Are you getting paid as an Intern?
 
put some money in ETFs or an Index...but Roth is also a good way to go.

EDIT: setting up your emergency fund would be a good idea. For example, I currently have 6K in my savings account. Contribute about 5% from my paycheck to a Roth after-tax plus i contribute about 12% to my company 401K.

Once you set up your emergency fund. Start putting as much money as you can on those loans.
 
Pharmacy school can be in the range of 200k for the entire degree, and the demand is high, so it inevitably ends up paying well. Soon as you complete it, you will have a hell of a debt, but can easily make 80k+ with your first job. It caps after awhile unlike other jobs that get higher with experience, but has one of the fastest rates of return following school. You will need a decent undergraduate record and if you have money going in that helps.
 
that your two week paycheck actually? I interned with Eckerds (now CVS) and we were paid decent, but nothing like that...
 
Originally posted by: necine
800 per week at walgreens at 20? Wow.
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It means he is an assistant manager.

Or someone in the pharmacy (higher up than the standard pharmacy techs).

Also, that is very likely $800 per week Gross, not Net.
 
Originally posted by: Xcobra
put some money in ETFs or an Index...but Roth is also a good way to go.

EDIT: setting up your emergency fund would be a good idea. For example, I currently have 6K in my savings account. Contribute about 5% from my paycheck to a Roth after-tax plus i contribute about 12% to my company 401K.

Once you set up your emergency fund. Start putting as much money as you can on those loans.
Click to expand...

Emergency fund is less important when you live with your parents. Only do this if you are moving out.
 
how would i go about starting a 401k? i asked my coworker and she said wags only had the profit sharing plan.

and yeah it's not really $800/week, that's the net...i bring home about $575 after taxes and such. sorry 😛

 
Originally posted by: ximhkx
how would i go about starting a 401k? i asked my coworker and she said wags only had the profit sharing plan.

and yeah it's not really $800/week, that's the net...i bring home about $575 after taxes and such. sorry 😛
Click to expand...

Walgreens 401k Looks like you have one available, better talk to HR/Employee Benefits, probably a 1-800 #, a lot of time coworkers have no idea how this stuff works, especially at a place like Walgreens.

The $800/week is your gross pay, you net $575.
 
go with whatever matching money that wags offers. thats free money and goes into what is call a tax deferred vehicle. what that means is that the money you put in there goes in before taxes are taken out of your paycheck and gains interests tax free. when you retire and withdraw money, then you pay taxes.
once that's filled up to the max percentage that wags will give you for free, full fund your roth ira. this is a different type of retirement account because the money you put in is already taxed. this means any interest you gain in this type of account will not be taxed later on when you withdraw it.
once you fill out the roth, and have more money, go back and put the rest into the 401k or other tax deferred account.

be sure to take into stride whatever goals you have though. you need an emergency fund, car fund, or house downpayment fund. there's a balance to this and it's not throw everything into retirement and live like a goat. on the flip side, due to the powers of compounding, should you live like a goat the first 5-10 years of your working life and save like a madman for retirement, it's highly probably that you will be able to save less as you get older and enjoy life much more, all the while being ahead of the retirement game and possibly retiring early as well.
 
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