Hello everyone,
I'm looking forward to hearing some sound advice from some like minded people saving for the same goals. Basically I'm sort of in early retirement already, living very cheap and comfortably in northeast Thailand by teaching English (very stress free employment). I have a job making $1100 a month plus extra part time work on the side. For those living in the U.S. it may not seem like a lot, but for Thailand is definitely upper middle class. I also have around 3 months vacation time per year to work on other projects and travel.
My saving goals started after I left college in 2011. I graduated with a sum of $30000 in student loan debt, but immediately found a job making 50k a year in North Carolina. I managed to pay back the $30000 in 3 years through extreme saving and sacrifices. While with the company, I managed to build up 26k in my 401k plan and opened up a Vanguard IRA target retirement 2050 index fund (VFIX). After 3 years of sitting in an average engineering job, I left the company to start a new life in Thailand.
Now I've been living here for about a year and managed to save 7k this year after expenses. With annual expenses more or less $5000 per year, I'd say I'm well on track to reaching my savings goals before I cash in on my Stock index funds and 401k.
Now that I've given you some background, I'd like to bring up my main question. It involves my employer 401k account and my index fund that I opened through Vanguard. These 2 accounts make up 60% of my net worth, and the other 40% is cash in a couple American bank accounts and my Thai bank account. Total worth of these 2 stock accounts are:
Mercer 401K Plan- $26,000
Vanguard Target Retirement 2050 fund- $11,000
My question is, should I convert my 401k plan over to my IRA Roth through Vanguard or leave it be? I'm just 27 years old, but I could see myself making a great life over here with plenty of opportunity to open a business or some rental properties. Obviously I'd have to consider the tax penalties for converting over the 401k to the Vanguard IRA Roth account, but it seems like the best idea for long term growth. Basically my thought is that a larger principle ($37,000) will compound faster than two separate accounts making different ROI's (401k ROI is around 6% now and the Roth account is 8%). Are there any professional security investors who could give me some good advice on how to approach this issue for my long term interests?
Thank You!
Dave