Investment order...I screwed up?

[Sunshine007]

New to this so I was not following the investment order.  I typically just do the match for 401k and max my Roth.  OK I am maxing out 401K and Roth now.  I guess I should start a traditional IRA? Should I just do that for 2019? Or would you go through the trouble of stopping Roth contributions asap for the rest of the year and open a traditional and move forward?

[RWD]

What is a "traditional Roth"? Those words typically mean opposite things.

[Tass]

Presumably they meant Traditional IRA, as opposed to a Roth IRA.

The most general guideline is that you should invest in a Roth if you are in a lower tax bracket than you expect to be in in retirement. If you are not, invest in a Traditional IRA. The $5500 limit is for cumulative investments in both, so if you messed up, feel free to open a new account and finish maxing it out.

There are more detailed guidelines in the Investment Order thread and on the Bogleheads wiki.

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/investment-order/msg1333153/
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Traditional_versus_Roth

[Sunshine007]

That is what I meant. Thank you. I appreciate the links.

[MDM]

If you decide that a traditional IRA is definitely better for you this year, but you have already contributed to a Roth IRA, you may recharacterize the Roth IRA contribution to a a traditional IRA contribution.

[jlcnuke]

New to this so I was not following the investment order.  I typically just do the match for 401k and max my Roth.  OK I am maxing out 401K and Roth now.  I guess I should start a traditional IRA? Should I just do that for 2019? Or would you go through the trouble of stopping Roth contributions asap for the rest of the year and open a traditional and move forward?

The "investment order" has little to do with traditional IRA or Roth other than to say max out a Roth IRA, if that's what you're using, before topping off your 401k after the match. There is only 1 limit across all your IRA's (traditional and Roth). Pick the one that's right for you (Roth for most people, but traditional works best for some) and max it out.

Why do you think you should be using a traditional instead of a Roth?