Katie, I'm sorry you didn't get the job but at least you were brave enough to apply and interview. I have an interview this week and I'm trying not to think too much about it or I may not do well.
I have an IRA, but I'm interested in the Roth IRA. I should probably ask the financial advisor if it's possible to have both or if I should switch it.
I recently checked on the deferred compensation program offered by my employer and it seems to be growing well and I also have retirement funds from former employers. I constantly have to ask myself if I want to combine the funds with the IRA or keep them where they are for the guaranteed interest rate…? Maybe I should ask the advisor about this as well.
Happy New Week of saving!!
Good luck on your interview, Candice! They're nerve-wracking for sure. My interview actually went well, I went into it with a mindset that I wasn't trying to sell myself, because I knew I had the knowledge. My problem came with their requirements for a certain degree. I knew I didn't have it and so did they, but we went through the Q&A anyway, in the event that they could make an exception or didn't have other viable options. Apparently they had other candidates who had both the schooling and experience so my experience alone wasn't enough. At least I know I tried my best 
It should be possible to have both a traditional and Roth IRA, and from what I hear the Roth option is a good way to go so make sure to talk to your advisor, like you said, so they can confirm that for your personal circumstances. The question I haven't yet taken the time to answer is whether the maximum $6,000 for Roth IRA allowances includes if you already have a Roth 401k or if you can contribute $6,000 to a Roth IRA on top of the $20,500 allowed for Roth 401k next year 
@Katie I believe you can contribute to both to the maximum in a calendar year. I am also looking into doing this, but I'm gonna try to hit my goal of maxing out my 401K first.
@Candice Good Luck on your interview!
Super excited for December! This is one of my favorite times of the year. Hope you guys have a great start to the month.
I used to like this time of year for family gatherings, lol. We've had to modify the way we celebrate but it still works well for the most part… but, as I get older I find it stressful to buy gifts so I don't do it anymore. Touching on the article, my family doesn't really NEED anything. The adults are satisfied and the kids are greedy, lol. They get clothes and gifts all throughout the year and it seems like the only thing left to buy is "clutter". Since I've been learning more about living a minimalist lifestyle, I don't want to go on a downward spiral back into debt and unnecessary things. I'd like to volunteer (and take my son) so he can see how fortunate we have been and start a practice of giving to the less fortunate and being grateful for the things we already have.
I forgot to mention that I'm convinced credit scoring is a scam. I've paid ALL my household bills on time and made sure to pay off the credit card debt in full before the billing cycle and one of the credit reporting agencies dropped my score 14 points. It's the one that's already 40 or 50 points lower than the other two. I'm not planning to make any major purchases that my credit score will be pulled but… I'm so confused as to why it dropped.
I listened to a podcast on "minimalist Christmas" yesterday, Candice, and a cute little rhyme the woman used for gift giving was, "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read." I thought that was so cute and it's what I was planning to do this year for the kids. I told them in July that we would be doing things differently this year by giving to charity instead of a bunch of presents so I had each one pick a charitable organization to give to. I told them I would still buy them new pajamas (our tradition) and I also planned on getting them something small that they need (hairbrush, toothbrush, scented lotion, etc.) and a book because they spend so much time on electronics lately, lol. It'll be a slightly different experience but hopefully still warm and fuzzy.
That's awesome Katie!! I used to ask for books and gift cards for my son's birthday which is 3 weeks after Christmas. It worked out well when he was younger but that was before he could really ask for the things he wanted, LOL. The charitable donation idea is really cool. That may be the path I will take this year. I don't/won't buy anything for Christmas but I will buy him a science experiment kit for his birthday. He told me that he LOVES science and I'm all about promoting educational interests.
Out of curiosity, had anyone seen an update on the SaverLife bank account recently? I signed up to be notified about it but haven't heard anything for a couple months now, after the first few emails.
I haven't seen any updates. What should we look for?
I had originally gotten an email about the SaverLife bank account, and signed up as interested. I think I got one more email after that, verifying my interest but nothing since. I'm wondering if I missed something or if they just haven't made progress on it. I know Amazon had a hard time getting a bank account rolled out so it's possible that it was just an idea SaverLife had but they haven't been able to work it out yet.
I do remember seeing something of the sort, but I wasn't interested. It seems like EVERY site is offering some type of low interest savings account. Some even offer cash back if you sign up with affiliates and then you have to open an account with them too.
It seems like you have to connect all your bank account info to a hundred different sites just to get $5, and at the end of the year, the balance will be $5.05. But don't let me deter you, for me this is just like one of those gray areas like kids with credit cards, LOL!
Hopefully they are reading the posts and will give you an update soon.
SaverLife Bank Account: I haven't heard anything more, but I think I decided against receiving any more notices because I am [semi] satisfied with the online bank I already use and SaverLife did not mention anything about the APR [which is my main factor in choosing if I want to switch banks or not.]
IRA/Roth401k contributions: I do believe you are able to open both accounts. I do not think the limit for the Roth accounts are affected by a non-roth, but I do think there is something about having more than one of the same type of accounts sharing the [account type] limit…I will try to find the article. @Katie See Paragraph 2 under "Contribution Limits" (the paragraph ending with footnote 11) and Paragraph 4 (starting with: "One financial strategy, for those who want the max in tax-advantaged savings…").
Why am I not getting credit for the activities that I completed?
Happy new week everyone!!
Elizabeth, they usually resolve issues with points the next day. No worries.
Thanks for the reminder to visit Investopedia, Kristen! Hopefully things slow down at work soon (end of the year is a horrible time to work in HR, lol) and I can focus some of my energy on my own planning rather than getting all of our employees squared away for the coming year.
Hope Everyone is having a great Monday!
I was super excited to see what kind of interest rate would be attached to the SaverLife savings account. Since the goal of SaverLife is to save, I was hoping to see something in the higher end. That would totally get me to switch.
I've been busy between holiday stuff, school stuff, work stuff, etc. I'm looking forward to the end of the month when I will be taking some much deserved vacation time :)
I really don't have anything new to report. Just checking in to say hi and I hope you all had a great day.
Anyone having trouble joining December's Race to 100?
I have tried to click on the link "Join the Race", but it simply sends me to the dashboard over and over. Tried through the e-mail link, and it also sends me to dashboard.
Tried to go to link provided by a search engine, which brought me to the page to join, but when I clicked to join, it was an error page.
Good morning! I'm having the same issue with the race to $100, Kristen. Even when I've joined in the past, it never seems to reflect the amount I've saved. I do remember something, whether it was an email or on the SaverLife Facebook page, about automatically entering in the race now versus needing to enter each month. Maybe that's related to the issues we're experiencing. Or perhaps I dreamt that notification, lol.
I believe it is an automatic opt in and you have to choose to opt out of the Race to $100. There seem to be a few widgets that struggle to work. At lease customer service is pretty quick to fix account issues. I assume the race is still on, we just can't track it.
I've been having the issues with the points not calculating after reading the article of the day. It know it happened two or three days in a row, even when other people mentioned it… I just assumed it would get straightened out shortly as it had in the past. Maybe the LifeSavers are in need of an update on their end or maybe they are still recovering from or prepping for holiday breaks. Who knows? But, I'm sure they will look at the logs and offer credits for those days. As far as the race to $100, I can't comment, but I'm wondering if they will have another $5000 contest? I read that article several times thinking there was a user error. 
I've noticed with the article of the day that I don't get credited the points when it's a "story" rather than an article. So know matter how interesting "Ramona's" money journey is, I won't get the points for reading it, lol. Last week that was the case on two days so maybe that's what you experienced too, Candice.
This week was the first week my points store has worked correctly, lol. So maybe they fixed one issue but caused another? It would be awesome to have another $5000 contest; I think I missed the last one. Wasn't there a similar contest on Oct?
Today I opened a 529 for my kid! It doesn't have much in it (and I won't be able to contribute a lot right away) but it feels good to have started.
Wow, I wonder what happened to the site? I've been trying to login to the forum for nearly a week a d kept getting the error message which redirected to the front page of the site. I did, however, get points for reading the articles. I hope everyone is well this week.
Congrats Sarah, on getting the 529 started!! It doesn't matter how much or little you start with; the path to any new purchase/investment/savings starts with a penny.
