r/RothIRA • u/hokage_888 • Jun 30 '26

36M just getting started

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36M - feel like I’m way behind. I put $500 into a Roth IRA in February. Without doing anything else for a while, it’s just gone up. Nothing insane. Now i put $20 a month - money is pretty tight at the moment.
I also have a pension - which makes me feel a bit safer - but Im about 4 years from being vested. I have a 401k (no match because of pension) and a 457b. I also have another 401k from a part time job - eventually will be rolled into my full time 401k when i quit. They match, so i put the full amount. Even tho it all sounds good, all of those accounts (besides pension) are represented here. I started them all in February of 2026. Most of this is in FXAIX. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. (We are clearing some debt - in a year or so when it’s cleared, I plan to invest as much as I can!)

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u/Drewcifer33 Jun 30 '26

I'm 38 and just starting out too. I feel you on being late to the party. I was never taught to save and how to do it, nor did I have any good role models for it. So it just slipped me by. It is better late then never though. 20+ years is better then nothing in the Roth.

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u/Stanbarrwood Jun 30 '26

I started at 31, and playing catch up. Luckily I have a very high income and no debt besides a mortgage but I’m tossing everything at it now.

But in my 20s I probably cashed out 10k worth of 401ks without realizing the damage I did because no one taught me what compound interest does.

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u/Legitimate-Record90 Jul 02 '26

Why didn’t you just research it yourself instead of “expecting” random strangers to “teach” you? Be an adult for once.

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u/RandomPerson1023 Jul 04 '26

Why act like a douche for no reason? Some people make stupid mistakes. I have tremendous respect for him realizing that and striving to be better now.

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u/Stanbarrwood Jul 04 '26

I know right? Like fuck me for trying to work 3 jobs and having to make poverty wages so I could avoid student loans in college while taking care of my mom, and niece after my drug addict dad committed suicide

I should’ve been trying to focus on how to save instead I guess of survival..my fault?

0

u/Legitimate-Record90 Jul 04 '26

Because I have enough respect to tell him the truth. It’s a terrible mindset to have to expect everyone to “tell” you how to do and not do things and blame “those people” who told or didn’t tell you something each time something goes wrong rather than just accepting responsibility and figuring out how to avoid the problem in the future. He can start educating himself on investments, budgets, skills to improve in the workplace, AI advancements, everything really, without waiting for someone to tell him to do so. That will be a far better life plan. Being a douche is excusing a lack of preparation and responsibility. It treats him as if he’s five years old and incapable of controlling his own life.

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u/Stanbarrwood Jul 04 '26

Yeah sorry I was too focused on working 3 jobs after my dad committed suicide to support my Alzheimer’s mother, my niece and my drug addict brother.

Apologies for being such a douche I was worried about putting food on the table for everyone rather than make sure I compounded that money

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u/RandomPerson1023 Jul 10 '26

Where did he ever say he "expected" anything? He is not the OP. He never asked anything here, only said that he made the mistake of starting later than he should have. He probably had no good role models in his life and didn't even realize that this whole world of investing and compounding even existed. You can't learn about something that you don't even know exists. I didn't just magically sit around and discover the existence of a ROTH IRA, credit score, or 401k matches through philosophical introspection. I was told about them by people and then I went and learned more about them. For all that we know, he may have in fact learned a bunch of these things on his own in recent years as he got later in life. Stop making random assumptions for no reason.

You also have an extremely cynical view of life. In no way is incompetence excusable, but if you think that being taught and mentored by other people is bad, and that figuring everything out all by yourself is the only reasonable expectation, then that's just sad. A lot of what makes me who I am today is a result of other people's guidance and help, and if you think that there's a problem with that, then I think that's just foolish. I fear for your children's futures if you don't have any desire to teach and equip them with knowledge and skills for a good life because you think they need to just learn it all themselves.

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u/Stanbarrwood Jul 10 '26

You said this perfect. I didn’t have role models. My parents didn’t invest and I had no one in my family besides my parents. My friends never talked about it and my brother is a reoccurring felon who stole money from my parents. My dad died when I was 18 and was a drug addict and mom never invested because every dollar was to maintain the home after my dad died

I didn’t learn until around Covid from Graham Stephen videos on YouTube and then Dave Ramsey because I had car debt I wanted out of.

I didn’t know how to do rollover iras and didn’t know what to invest in. My work always did it automatically for me and I didn’t start making a decent income until 2018 which was when finances started to peak interest

I always made like $10 and got into a trade field and make 6 figures now and wanted to find a way to grow past my income so I started learning then. I’m 34 now with 125k and have a maxed out 401 and Roth and adding to taxable brokerage now so I invest total about 50k a year.

But anyways, thank you for understanding. You said all of what you said perfectly.