Comments on: Saving for Retirement in College?

By: Adam

Adam — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:28:00 +0000

@Marilyn – The sooner you can start saving the better. Many people will tell you that if you can get a better interest rate by investing borrowed money you should do it. In other words, if you can borrow money at 4% (your student loans) and can get something higher like 8% in your retirement account, you should invest it. I’m not sure how I feel about that because you are still taking on debt and no matter what the rate is, it still feels like a burden over your head. If it was me, I would wait until I was able to invest my earnings from a job. At that point I would sock as much money away as humanly possibly while still making payments on your student loans. At this point, I am not a professional so if you want real advice, seek the assistance of a professional financial planner. Sorry, I had to put that! Good luck in school!

By: miss marilyn

miss marilyn — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:38:00 +0000

Yowza, I am 22 years old and I would L-O-V-E to start up a Roth IRA! I even looked into ones where all I need to do is deposit 50 bucks a month. It’s just that I would be using student loan money to do that because I’m paying for school myself, and it’s EXPENSIVE! I can’t convince myself to invest money that I’m already paying interest on! And any side money I earn from babysitting or summer jobs, I feel like it should go to school expenses. I’m graduating from dental school in 2 years with over 150k in debt. I will be making decent money out of school…because I’ll be a dentist. But I still feel sad about losing these early years of compouond interest. Any suggestions Adam?

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:35:00 +0000

Morp, you are absolutely right! I originally submitted this article to a newspaper and it included more about using tax-sheltered accounts. For most younger individuals I would recommend a Roth IRA.

By: Morp

Morp — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:02:00 +0000

Make sure you invest your money in a tax-sheltered retirement account. You don’t want to pay taxes every year on all your earnings.