21 Responses

1. The Saving Freak

   January 1st, 2008 at 11:24 am

   1

   This is a practical and attainable way to fully fund your roth. Thanks for breaking down the daily contributions.

2. Laura

   January 1st, 2008 at 2:56 pm

   2

   I keep forgetting that we have a little extra room to fund our IRAs. Thanks for the tip! I love how you broke it down into a manageable amount.

3. Money Blue Book

   January 1st, 2008 at 5:52 pm

   3

   Well I’m very glad they finally raised the ROTH contribution limit. It was about time!
   Have a great new year!
   -Raymond

4. kitty

   January 1st, 2008 at 8:15 pm

   4

   BTW - people who haven’t contributed for 2007 can still do it until April 15th. During previous couple of years I always waited until I got all tax forms before contributing for the preceding year to make sure I can do it.

   I can’t do it for 2007, will likely not be able for 2008 as well. I’d known I’d be in phase-out range this year even with my max 401K contribution, but selling some of my ESPP stock (way too many eggs in one basket, still is, but this was as much as I could sell and still hope to avoid AMT) brought me considerably over. Current plan is to sell a bit next year or so in some good moment (hopefully).

   I am still debating if I can trust the government not to change plans to eliminate income limit on conversions in 2010. If I decide to trust them, I’d put money in a regular IRA and convert.

   Yes, I know lots of people would like to have this problem. But I regret not contributing in the past when I was earning less - I only learned about Roth IRA a few years ago. So do contribute while you can. Incidentally, I don’t drink latte — in addition to being a waste of money, it is really really fattening. I also bring my own lunch to work - I can cook better than they do, and microwaves is a great invention.

5. Mike

   January 1st, 2008 at 9:50 pm

   5

   Good tips and info.

   Did you notice at least 3 of your suggestions (brown bag, skip lattes, drink tap), maybe/almost 4 (buy generic) are about what we put in our mouths? You can drink/eat yourself into debt.

   I’m not a Starbucks fan (love Dunkin), but I’m in the coffee club at work!

   Thanks, and happy new year!

6. Stephanie

   January 2nd, 2008 at 11:09 am

   6

   That’s a good way to think of it…I’m trying to figure out how often to move money into my Roth, an how often to make Roth purchases. I suppose that my current rate of once a month isn’t completely taking advantage of dollar cost averaging, plus I am not putting enough in to max out my Roth, so I’d need to up my contributions. But would it be a good idea to actually purchase every day?

7. NCN

   January 2nd, 2008 at 11:27 am

   7

   Stephanie! NO! Do NOT purchase stocks or mutual funds every day!!! This will drive up transaction costs!!! Once a month is more than enough… or even once a quarter…
   Me? I fully-fund my accounts, all at once, and make one purchase, per year…
   NCN

8. Two Nickels

   January 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 am

   8

   While not purchasing any positions daily is good advice, do you think that setting up a daily transfer to your IRA would be wise? Not buying things is one step, but at the end of the week, many of us (me, anyway) notice, “Hey, I’ve got an extra $50 and I need a new this or that, I’ll fund my Roth later”. Something to think about.

9. Derek

   January 2nd, 2008 at 11:13 pm

   9

   Great Post. I just got done giving everyone at my work a mini seminar(we were really slow on New Year’s eve) on why they need to invest in our new Roth 401k and why they need to start a Roth IRA. I will talk more about some other finance stuff in my new finance blog. Check it out if you have time. Thanks.

   http://learningtoberich.blogspot.com/

10. Stephanie

    January 3rd, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    10

    NCN, when you say that this will drive up transaction costs, what do you mean? I don’t think it costs me anything to buy more of the mutual funds I’m investing in within my Roth IRA. I agree with “Two Nickels”, I would want to maybe move money into my default account relatively often (which earns a decent percent as a money market).
    And when is a good time to make the purchases? I have a feeling that a lot of mutual funds get bought on the 1st or the 15th of every month or something.

11. deepali

    January 3rd, 2008 at 6:26 pm

    11

    I just keep coming back to this post because it’s amazing! I honestly did not think about savings in this way, which is retrospect is both stupid and bizarre, because I have been thinking about budgeting in this way all along.

12. How often should I contribute to my Roth IRA? « Graduated Learning: Life after College

    January 4th, 2008 at 11:37 am

    12

    [...] dollar cost averaging, ira, money, Personal Finance, roth, roth ira I came across an article that said that you could easily fund your IRA at $10.64 per day (assuming you include all year plus [...]

13. Sunday Money Roundup - Busting Out All Over Edition. | My Two Dollars

    January 6th, 2008 at 10:01 am

    13

    [...] No Credit Needed does the math and tells us how we can easily fund our Roth IRA for 2008. [...]

14. Weekend Linkage - January 6, 2007 | The Sun’s Financial Diary | A Personal Finance Blog on Saving and Investing

    January 6th, 2008 at 11:31 am

    14

    [...] a reader question on Roth IRA income limits and marriage. Meanwhile, NCN at No Credit Needed said it’s time to fund 2008 IRA, $10.64 per day. FMF at Free Money Finance posted an idea for saving: put your change in savings [...]

15. » Roundup: Help JD @ Get Rich Slowly Win An Award! on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity

    January 6th, 2008 at 4:51 pm

    15

    [...] does the math and explains how fully funding your Roth IRA costs only $10.64 a day for 470 days (now until April 15th, [...]

16. Friday Finance Findings for January 4th : Generation X Finance

    January 6th, 2008 at 5:37 pm

    16

    [...] Fully Fund Your Roth IRA for $10.64 a Day -  While you don’t want to be bothered with daily deposits, it helps to think about what it really boils down to on a daily basis. NCN has more. [...]

17. Day 613: Sunday Roundup

    January 6th, 2008 at 9:02 pm

    17

    [...] shows us that to fund your IRA for 2008, you will need to put in $10.64 per day. That’s basically the cost of eating lunch out, if [...]

18. » Weekly Roundup - $100 Oil Edition @ fivecentnickel.com

    January 6th, 2008 at 11:58 pm

    18

    [...] reminded us that it costs less than eleven dollars per day to max your Roth [...]

19. Compounding

    January 7th, 2008 at 7:30 am

    19

    You know, with the increase in the contribution limit, a 16-year-old could put $5k in each year for the next four years, and have over $1 million dollars at the age of 59 if he never invested another dime? It is crazy! I outlined it here at, Hey Kid! Do You Want One Million Dollars?.

20. Roundup for week of 30 December 2007: Philip Hayden Foundation edition at Mighty Bargain Hunter

    January 7th, 2008 at 11:26 pm

    20

    [...] No Credit Needed reveals the power of $10.64 per day. [...]

21. Derek

    February 8th, 2008 at 9:30 am

    21

    DON’T invest more frequently. Dollar cost averaging statistically is much less effective than investing a lump sum and you don’t want to pay your broker all of those transaction fees! You will definitely lose money that way.
    See article
    http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/P104966.asp