Ready to retire?

February 25th, 2007

“If you work for yourself, aren’t you throwing away your retirement?”

A producer from Seattle’s KING5 TV news asked me this when we were prepping for my February 16 morning spot.* My answer: Hardly. Workers under 40 are lucky if they get a 401k at all — especially one with employer matching. And pensions? They’re pretty much extinct, unless you work for the government.

If you’re not getting a 401k with employer matching, you’re basically in the same boat as a self-employed person: You still have to siphon money from each paycheck for your retirement fund, even if it’s one you get through an investment firm like Fidelity or Vanguard. (I use the latter.)

Why the hell am I thinking about this on a Sunday, when instead I could be scrambling to rent the last few Oscar-nominated flicks I haven’t seen? Because I contributed to Your Money 2007, a Seattle Times special section that came out today. Basically we hooked up a handful of readers with certified financial planners, gave them the money makeover of their lives, and then wrote about it for all the world to see.

Working on this project made me realize that I’m a bit behind where I need to be with my retirement savings, especially since I’ve been self-employed forever and am single. If you’re self-employed, too, or thinking about joining the ranks of solo workers, here are some resources that can help you get a better handle on your long-term savings:

• A great, great, great Smart Money synopsis of the various tax-free retirement accounts available to self-employed peeps
• The Motley Fool, a site that makes reading about investing almost fun (I swear)
• I Will Teach You To Be Rich, the no-frills money blog (with book on the way!) by Stanford grad Ramit Sethi, who knows far more about investing wisely than I ever will
• Boston Gal’s Open Wallet, the straight-up savings journal of an anonymous thirtysomething

*Sorry, no video from le TV spot. But my mom and friend Diane swear I did great.

Entry Filed under: Money honey, Read my columns