Mid-Year Resolution

Okay...it's not technically mid-year yet. But it's getting close. Funny how goals are fluid...but epiphanies and insights don't always magically occur at the end of December right before New Year Goals are established.

I'm not sure exactly when, but somewhere in the midst of working on all the 1040's... thinking about Roth conversions and contributions and IRA catch-up provisions...it hit me like a lightning bolt! I'll be 48 by the end of this year! That means I'll be eligible for IRA catch-up provisions in just TWO MORE YEARS!!! Oh my, that means I'm getting old. And that means, debt or no debt, I really need to be socking away a maximum Roth contribution EVERY SINGLE YEAR!



I hope to work until I'm at least 65. If I can maximize the IRA every year until retirement, the most I could add to my Roth IRAs is $106,000 (2 yrs @ $5,000, 16 yrs. @ $6,000). That sure doesn't sound like very much to me right now, but every year I don't maximize means that total will be even less.

So I'm adding a goal, even if it slows down the debt payoff. I want to have $5,000 to contribute to my Roth before April 15, 2011 (the due date for 2010 contributions). I may end up having to transfer existing assets - either stocks or emergency fund - to reach the full $5,000. But since my Roth has been around for more than 5 years, I can treat it as a backup emergency fund anyway. So there it is...the realization that time has slipped by quickly and that it's time to do something about it!