Retirement saving?

llg, PhD, RN · Jun 10, 2006

I have been a nurse for 5 years and have not started saving for retirement? has anyone started yet? do you do your own or through your employer? for me it would be best to do my own because i dont see myself being at a job for 20 years...Which one did you do? 401K? IRA? anyone who knows anything about this please respond.thanks,

Congratulations on realizing the importance of saving for your retirement. That's an important big step.

I would suggest you find out about the options offered by your employer and learn about them. Make an appointment with the person in the Human Resources Department who handles that for your employer. If your employer offers a 401K plan, you don't have to work there for a long time to get the benefit. In many cases, you get the money your employer deposits into your 401K account is yours to keep immediately. In a 401K plan (or 403B plan if you work for a non-profit), you put some money into the account and your employer matches a portion of that money with some of their own. That's FREE money that is yours to keep even if you resign soon.

You set up an IRA with a bank or with another investment institution. With an IRA, your employer will not be putting any money in for you. The only money in there will be the money you put in yourself. However, for some people, the IRA is better because you have more freedom of choice as to how that money is invested and a few other options not available in 401K and 403B plans.

But before you can know what is best for you ... you need to find out EXACTLY what it is that your employer offers. It would be a shame to not take the FREE MONEY just because you never got around to asking them about it.

Good luck in your search for information. Educating yourself is a good first step.

llg