Joined Nov 2005
dark passenger
Forum Thread
Need advice on best retirement investment for sudden windfall ($40K) | mid-forties and no retirement savings
January 5, 2025 at
05:32 PM
in
Finance
(4)
Thread Details
Current financial situation:
45 yo old, unemployed. living w/ parents and receiving financial help. I don't have any retirement savings
cash ready to invest: $40K
can invest further $400 - $600 each month after expenses.
From what I understand, I'm not eligible for any IRA's since I don't have any taxable income. The help I get falls under 'gifts' and is much less than the $18,000/yr threshold that must be reported to the IRS.
The only option I see is to open a brokerage account and put all my money in an index fund like the S&P 500. This is for my retirement so I don't intend to touch the money for at least 20 years.
If anyone has better ideas, I'm all ears. TIA!
45 yo old, unemployed. living w/ parents and receiving financial help. I don't have any retirement savings
cash ready to invest: $40K
can invest further $400 - $600 each month after expenses.
From what I understand, I'm not eligible for any IRA's since I don't have any taxable income. The help I get falls under 'gifts' and is much less than the $18,000/yr threshold that must be reported to the IRS.
The only option I see is to open a brokerage account and put all my money in an index fund like the S&P 500. This is for my retirement so I don't intend to touch the money for at least 20 years.
If anyone has better ideas, I'm all ears. TIA!
About the OP
13 Comments
Your comment cannot be blank.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
45 yo old, unemployed. living w/ parents and receiving financial help. I don't have any retirement savings
cash ready to invest: $40K
can invest further $400 - $600 each month after expenses.
From what I understand, I'm not eligible for any IRA's since I don't have any taxable income. The help I get falls under 'gifts' and is much less than the $18,000/yr threshold that must be reported to the IRS.
The only option I see is to open a brokerage account and put all my money in an index fund like the S&P 500. This is for my retirement so I don't intend to touch the money for at least 20 years.
If anyone has better ideas, I'm all ears. TIA!
45 yo old, unemployed. living w/ parents and receiving financial help. I don't have any retirement savings
cash ready to invest: $40K
can invest further $400 - $600 each month after expenses.
From what I understand, I'm not eligible for any IRA's since I don't have any taxable income. The help I get falls under 'gifts' and is much less than the $18,000/yr threshold that must be reported to the IRS.
The only option I see is to open a brokerage account and put all my money in an index fund like the S&P 500. This is for my retirement so I don't intend to touch the money for at least 20 years.
If anyone has better ideas, I'm all ears. TIA!
As to an advisor, a good one can help, but you will never get good advice imo from big brokerage houses. They have no interest in protecting your capital and only have interest in how much commissions, bonuses or fees they can generate imo. Find a local CFP with a good rep imo.
My 2 cents.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
If you are also not going to generate much income you could go for a regular IRA too.
45 yo old, unemployed. living w/ parents and receiving financial help. I don't have any retirement savings
cash ready to invest: $40K
can invest further $400 - $600 each month after expenses.
From what I understand, I'm not eligible for any IRA's since I don't have any taxable income. The help I get falls under 'gifts' and is much less than the $18,000/yr threshold that must be reported to the IRS.
The only option I see is to open a brokerage account and put all my money in an index fund like the S&P 500. This is for my retirement so I don't intend to touch the money for at least 20 years.
If anyone has better ideas, I'm all ears. TIA!
45 yo old, unemployed. living w/ parents and receiving financial help. I don't have any retirement savings
cash ready to invest: $40K
can invest further $400 - $600 each month after expenses.
From what I understand, I'm not eligible for any IRA's since I don't have any taxable income. The help I get falls under 'gifts' and is much less than the $18,000/yr threshold that must be reported to the IRS.
The only option I see is to open a brokerage account and put all my money in an index fund like the S&P 500. This is for my retirement so I don't intend to touch the money for at least 20 years.
If anyone has better ideas, I'm all ears. TIA!
As was said, you can't invest what you can't afford to lose. If you can't lose money, tbills or a bond fund is the way to go ATM. Vanguard probably has a bond fund that's tax-exempt in your state. If you have a longer-term horizon and are willing to have some relative risk (don't be surprised to see your account drop 30% within the next 24 months but you should be fine if you just stay in the market), just invest in a couple of index funds. Do VTI (to be exposed to the whole US market, not just large caps) or similar and VXUS (to be exposed internationally -- diversify beyond the US) or similar.
If you're looking for work in the near future, put it in a CD or bond fund and then start using it to add to IRA. Whether you do Roth or traditional is pretty much irrelevant unless you're planning to land a large salary and change your financial situation soon.
$40k is obviously not enough for retirement but it is a huge amount to start growing over the next couple of decades. Use it well. Mid 40s isn't exactly old -- you've probably got a lot of life ahead of you and that can give you a large boost.
50% BND