The Dough Roller Money Podcast

The 5-year rule on Roth IRA distributions comes in two flavors. The first applies to earnings from Roth IRA contributions. We covered the rule in Podcast 105. The second aspect of the rule applies to distributions of Roth IRA conversions. That’s what we’ll look at today. Listen to this Article 1. The Two 5-Year Rules […] The post DR 109: The 5-Year Rule on Roth IRA Conversions appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Imagine you’ve just inherited some money. The amount just happens to match the outstanding balance on your mortgage. Now you have a decision. Do you pay off the mortgage or invest the money for retirement. That’s the question facing a podcast listener named Shelly. Here is her email to me: Great job on your podcasts. […] The post DR 108: Should You Pay Off Your Mortgage or Invest for Retirement? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It’s time for our monthly investment portfolio update. In each update I run through the tools I use and the results of my investments. I show you the good and the bad. We’ll even cover some mistakes I’ve made and what I’ve learned from those mistakes. Let’s start with the tools and a high level […] The post DR 107: Monthly Investment Update–September 2014 appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It’s not an overstatement to say that budgeting is the foundation upon which all lasting wealth is built. That’s true whether you make $40,000 a year as a teacher or $40 million a year as an entertainer. If your cash flow is well managed, you can build wealth on any income. If it’s not well […] The post DR 106: 8 Black Belt Budgeting Tips appeared first on The Dough Roller.

The Roth IRA was established by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 and named after its chief legislative sponsor, Senator William Roth of Delaware. The Roth IRA enables individuals with earned income to contribute after-tax (nondeductible) money to the retirement account. If the rules are followed, the money grows tax free. Unlike a traditional IRA, […] The post DR 105: The 5-Year Roth IRA Rule for Contributions (breaking the rule is costly) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Is it possible to build $1 million in net worth in 10 years starting from scratch? In today’s interview with Alan Corey, author of A Million Bucks By 30, we’ll learn exactly how one man did it. I learned about Alan and his book from a listener named Natalie, who I had the pleasure of interviewing […] The post DR 104: Rags to Riches and Back Again–Interview with Million Bucks by 30 Author Alan Corey appeared first on The Dough Roller.

If you’re a small business owner – whether you have employees or not – the thought of setting up a retirement plan can be overwhelming. 401ks and even SEP-IRAs are swimming in rules and regulations. What business owner really has enough hours in the day to deal with it? For that reason, I asked Chad […] The post DR 103: The Small Business 401k–Interview with CEO Chad Parks of The Online 401(k) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

One of the best retirement savings tools is often overlooked. The tool can save you thousands of dollars in taxes and sleepless nights if you made a mistake with your IRA. And yet according to a 2010 study by Fidelity less than one-third of investors are aware of this tool. I’m referring to what’s called […] The post DR 102: 4 Times Recharacterizing an IRA Conversion or Contribution Can Save Your Bacon (Literally) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Should you use a Health Savings Account (HSA) to save for retirement? That’s the question a listener to the Dough Roller Money Podcast asked recently. Here’s Mike’s email: Hi Rob, I have a question about my HSA at work. I have about $14,000 in it. I have not used it at all in the past […] The post Should You Use an HSA for Retirement Savings appeared first on The Dough Roller.

To commemorate the 100th episode of the Dough Roller podcast, I pulled together 100 ways to improve your finances. Let’s get started. 1. Balance your checkbook: Balancing a checkbook helps you focus on where you’ve spent your money and it ensures your bank hasn’t made any mistakes. With the help of budgeting tools such as […] The post 100 Ways to Improve Your Finances (Most in Under 10 Minutes) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

A reader we’ll call Frank recently emailed me about his advisor (we covered part of his email about dividends here). She had placed him in A shares of American Fund mutual funds. This told me he was working with a commissioned-based broker, as these mutual funds charge a sales fee of 5.75% to compensate the […] The post DR 099: 5 Gotchas with Commissioned Based Brokers appeared first on The Dough Roller.

We began our series on dividend investing by examining the ins and outs of dividends. Today we continue the series by looking at how dividends work with mutual funds and whether the yield on a fund should be a key consideration in our investing decisions. This topic came to light from an email I received […] The post DR 098: Dividend Investing (Part 2): Mutual Funds and Dividends appeared first on The Dough Roller.

The Fair Isaac Corp., better known as FICO, has introduced three major changes to its secret credit scoring formula. The changes relate to items referred to collections, medical debt, and consumers with limited credit history.  Believe it or not, these changes may result in higher scores for many consumers. Here are details on the three […] The post DR 097: 3 Key Changes Just Made to the FICO Credit Scoring Formula appeared first on The Dough Roller.

One of my favorite aspects of investing is receiving a dividend payment. Each month I look to see how much I earned in dividends, and I track this amount yearly. In fact, dividends play a significant role in my investment policy related to individual stocks. With the exception of Berkshire Hathaway, every business whose shares […] The post DR 096: Dividend Investing (Part 1)–What are Stock Dividends? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Photo: Phil Romans Saving to buy a home is both exciting and overwhelming. When my wife and I were saving to buy our first home, I thought we’d never have enough for the down payment. But somehow we came up with the money. One of the keys to our success was saving the cash in […] The post DR 095: 5 Places To Keep Your Down Payment When Saving to Buy a Home appeared first on The Dough Roller.

Most of us use a lot of tools to manage our money, budget, investments, and so forth. So I thought I’d pull together a list of the tools I use nearly every day. Hopefully you’ll find some options here that will help you make the most of your money. Investing 1. Personal Capital: Without question […] The post 22 of the Best Tools to Manage Your Money (most are totally FREE) appeared first on The Dough Roller.

In the world of tax-advantaged retirement savings accounts, there are plenty of options. But the two most commonly-used options are the 401(k) and the IRA. Both come in traditional (save taxes on contributions) and Roth (save taxes on withdrawals) options. While there are many similarities between a 401k and an IRA, there are also some […] The post DR 093: 401(k)s vs. IRAs: What are the Pros and Cons? appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It all started with a simple question about dividends and mutual fund fees. A listener to the podcast named Stephanie wanted to know if a fund’s returns were after fees and dividends. (They are.) After I learned more about Stephanie’s finances and career through several email exchanges, I popped the question. No, not that question. […] The post DR 092: How One Doctor is Learning to Invest Like a Pro appeared first on The Dough Roller.

If you have self-employed income in addition to your regular job, can you contribute to a SEP IRA even if you have a 401k at work? This question hit home for me a few years ago due to the income generated from this website. To get right to the point, the answer to the question […] The post DR 091: Don’t Make the Same $100,000 Retirement Mistake I Just Made appeared first on The Dough Roller.

It’s without a doubt the most frequent question I receive from readers of this blog. People want to know whether they should put their retirement savings in a Roth vs traditional IRA or 401k. I’ve written a lot about these retirement options. If you are new to retirement accounts, I’d suggest you start by reading […] The post DR 090: Roth vs. Traditional IRA or 401k: The Math Behind This Important Decision appeared first on The Dough Roller.