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/biz/ - Business & Finance

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569361 No.569361 [Reply] [Original]

401k? Yes or no?

So I'm a part-time paramedic. My I work on occasion to pay my bills and such while I am in school to finish my degree. My company keeps sending me emails asking to join a 401k plan. I literally work maybe 2 times a month and live of of student loans until I finish nursing school. Is it even worth it if I am part-time? I'm still naive about this stuff so don't be a complete faggot.

>> No.569362

It's free money if they offer matching.

>> No.569366

>>569362
They do offer a match. Would I be getting less money when I recieve my pay check? (After taxes and such)

>> No.569371

Also, I understand it will pay later I life but I can't afford to lose any less of my pay check atm.

>> No.569372

>>569366
Yes, because they take it out of your paycheck to go into your 401k account. That's the other benefit of a 401k: you pay less taxes.

>> No.569377

>>569366
>>569366
You would get however much less based on how much you put in.

I would say don't bother. If this isn't your career and you won't be working there for a while, you'll make more trouble for yourself trying to transfer it around once you quit.

The only reason you're getting that shut is because you're on the not-signed-up list and someone is getting payed to look busy hassling you about it.

Don't bother until you start your real job.

>> No.569390

>>569377
This is what I was thinking lol. Yeah I'm probably not making it my full-time career.

>> No.569426

OP, would you mind me asking how much your wage is? I'm thinking about being a paramedic

>> No.569427

>>569372

>You pay less taxes now.

FTFY

>> No.569433

>>569371

if you cant afford any less from your paycheck, don't do a 401k until you can. their match isn't that important.

if you are 22, $6000 in your 401k will grow at 10% per year until you are 59. When you withdraw, it will be $90k, but adjusted for inflation, about 27k.

Not worth it until you can afford it.

>> No.569435

>>569426
Part-time is $18.65hr

Full-time yearly is $52,000

Don't do it... It's definitely not as glorious as people make it out to be. I deal with retards all day. Become a nurse and work in the ER or become a nurse THEN go out and get your EMT licenses (you could get your paramedic but more schooling). Nurses get paid more and the work is definitely easier on your body. Paramedic is a young mans job.

>> No.569463
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569463

>>569435
52k is nothing. Holy shit you guys get ripped off. That's starvation level shit right there. You're not in a major city are you?

>> No.569496

>>569463
Yup. Atlanta... Cost of living on Georgia is pretty cheap though. I'm done with EMS.

>> No.569505
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569505

>>569496
I know how you feel. I live in Denver, and I feel like this place is too expensive on 85k. Especially when the housing market starts at 300k.

>> No.569612

>>569505
Yeah, everything out West is pretty expensive. All I know is we are under paid and over worked. It's mostly due to the lack of college education. Most programs were certificates only. Now they are trying to move to an associates degree and hopefully a bachelors. I think once we start to take the field more professionally, the pay will increase but that won't be happening anytime soon.

>> No.569634

>>569505
And what do you do that earns 85K? I used to work in Denver and I started at 52K. It was shit, but I made it work.

>> No.569670

>>569361
>401k? Yes or no?
100% yes if you can spare the money. Compounding interest makes a big difference, someone who makes small contributions early on will run away from someone else who tries to "catch-up" later. Employer match is free money you're giving up by not contributing. And it reduces your taxable income, allowing you to leverage your income more. It's generally worth contributing up to whatever your employer will match.

I managed to hit the contribution limit this year, and plan on doing so for as long as I am able.

>> No.569675
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569675

>>569634
Denver has gotten expensive lately. This is a more expensive city to live in than Miami. I could almost afford thornton, but even there it's expensive. Commerce City is coming up as well, that place used to be a total dump and now houses (that are worth living in) are above 200. I do security consulting, but I work for a large firm.

>> No.569695

>>569670
>>569361

I'm seconding this anon contrary to everyone else. Unless this will literally do your finances in and make you live on the street because you are living paycheck to paycheck, not putting a little away, especially when your employer offers a match, seems short sighted. Every dollar a 25 year old or so puts away will multiply by a factor of like 7 by the time you retire, so in a sense you are throwing your money away. Look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves my patron used to say.

>> No.569702

>>569675
Denver does have some old money floating around. Ever been to the sushi den? Never seen so many yuppie, white, young men and women my age (I'm 29) driving fucking ferraris. It drives me nuts, knowing they are all damn trust fund babies. I scrape by on 70k these days, but I work in Colorado Springs and cost of living is reasonable down here. Buying a house for $275k right now actually

>> No.569716

>>569702
Colorado Springs is affordable, but alot of that area is a dump. Fountain is basically a ghetto and any area around the three military bases is guaranteed ghetto. I guess you could live in the north side of the city though, maybe around Dublin area or Briargate. It seems like if you live in the springs you have to be some kind of military contractor to earn money. Fuck that.

>> No.569728

>>569716
Ironically the Dublin area is exactly where we are buying a house. Yeah I agree, fuck anything south of Constitution.

I agree its easier to make money as a contractor, but its not the only way. Lots of engineering jobs (thats me), lots of educational jobs, lots of medical jobs, public service, etc.

>> No.569736
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569736

>>569728
I lived there for a few years, it was interesting, and I've been to the sushi den. It's not the best place in the city for sushi. If I'm going to do Sushi in the Denver area I'd rather go to Hapa in Boulder. The atmosphere is better and I haven't needed reservations in a long time.

>> No.569745

>>569736
I agree there are better places for sushi. I was using it to illustrate the vast income inequality in the city. Maybe Pearl St. is the happening place to be, but it never fails that you'll spot 3 or more >$200k cars parked in the area on a Saturday

>> No.569752
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569752

>>569745
Oh yeah, lots of tech start-ups too. Lots of young money moving into the city from places like San Franfreako. It's driving property values and and the Chinese investors are coming with them. It's fucking scary. Chinese investors have been buying up huge amounts of city.

>> No.569759

>>569752
Property in Denver is growing out of control for sure. Racism intensifies. Sorry, I can't help but feel hate when I see rich young asians running around like they own the place. The fucking Chinese own that huge gold mine near Cripple Creek and I see those guys hanging around occasionally.

>> No.569768

If you can spare any income at all from your paycheck you should contribute to a retirement account. If you can't spare any income you should take a hard look at your expenses and figure out where you can save money because you should not be living paycheck to paycheck.

The benefit of contributing to a 401k is that income grows tax deferred, meaning all the money you would have paid in taxes is allowed to multiply as well and the effect of compounding interest will turn a small investment into a huge sum later. A 401k can also push you into a lower tax bracket now by pushing extra money taxed at a high rate into the account and then retrieved later in retirement at a lower rate. It's actually pretty hard to understate the power of compound interest when saving for retirement though and the earlier you start the better and that's definitely the main benefit.

If you have access to a Roth account this is another good choice if you believe your income is likely to significantly rise as you age. The money you put into it is taxed normally, so there's less to put in than with a 401k, but when you take the money out at retirement you pay no capital gains. Zero. None. This is becoming more attractive especially as political pressure builds to increase the capital gains tax.

At your age and income level you might be thinking it doesn't make sense for you to start contributing or that it might be too much effort to transfer it once you find a "real job". These might be valid concerns but how many people have done the exact same thing and then reached 40 or 50 before they realized they still hadn't started? Start now to get yourself in the habit of saving.

>> No.569786
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569786

>>569759
The only thing I know about Cripple Creek is there's a Casino in that area. I always thought that only natives or whatever could own stuff out there.

>> No.569820

>>569435
5th after taxes or pre?

>> No.569837

>>569670
>>569768

Would you anons recommend having a 401k and a Roth IRA? I am currently contributing at the employer match limit for my 401k, and thinking about starting an IRA for the balance of what I can save after maxing out the employer match.

Does this sound wise?

>> No.569870

>>569837
Having an IRA is a great way to expand your savings, though they are subject to some hard dollar limits which may seem kind of restrictive ($5500, or $6500 if you're 50 or older). You might check with your employer and see what the actual contribution limit is for their 401k. The IRS limit is $17,500 for 2014 but your employer may specify that you can only contribute a maximum X% of your salary regardless of the match. For example, my employer has a 7% match. I contribute 20% though and could contribute up to 50% (employer limit) as long as my total contributions don't exceed $17,500 (IRS limit).

Sure, the extra money you contribute to your workplace plan doesn't get matched but you still get all the wonderful tax benefits of being in a 401k or Roth plan.

>> No.569909

>>569820
Before taxes. Sucks a donkey dick.

>> No.569910

Yea

>> No.569923

>>569463
Holy fuck standards sure are different. I'm making $18k a year working as a key carrier (low level management) and going to school full time.

I'd fucking love to be making $30k a year. An extra 1000 a month? Holy shit.

I can't imagine what I would do with $50k a year.

>> No.570188

>>569923
52k a year is full-time employment. Four 12 hour shifts a week or 24hrs on 48hrs off schedule. Going to school full-time is basically impossible if you try and work full-time as well. Especially if you want to maintain a solid 3.5-4.0 GPA.

Going to school full-time and working part time, at my company I make around 16k a year and live off of scholarships and grants. It sucks but once I finish I'll be starting off at 70k a year (In Georgia that is pretty darn good) and I'm guaranteed a raise. At my current job, I havent had a raise in 4 years.

>> No.570288
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570288

>>569923
What poverty 3rd world country are you in though?

>> No.570290

>>569366

They take money out of your paycheck to put it into the 401K, which they also match. The truck stop I used to work at did full matching if you worked for over ten years.

Naturally, I did not stay there for ten yeras.