First time poster hoping for some advice. I'm sure I'll end up leaving out some information, so if you need any clarification please let me know.
My situation is as follows: I am currently in my mid 20's. I have always been frugal, but only in the last couple of years have focused that on early retirement and having a defined savings goal. I maxed my Vanguard Roth IRA in 2014 and 2015 and will max it for 2016. Through my employer I have a Simple IRA plan with American Funds that matches up to 3% of my salary. I have contributed 3% to this the whole time I've had it to get the employer match. I have avoided adding additional money to it due to the fees with American Funds and have instead added that money to a taxable account at Vanguard.
I have 3 questions:
1. Is it worth contributing the IRS maximum of $12,500 to the Simple IRA in 2016? Deducting $12,500 from my taxable income does not change what tax bracket I am in, but my gut feeling is that this would be beneficial even though I'm stuck with American Funds, but don't know how the math works out. I'm in the 25% tax bracket.
2. Do you have any recommendations on specific funds within American Funds? I let the adviser choose the funds when I started the account, so it's currently in around 78% American Balanced and 22% Capital Income Builder. I instructed him today to put all new contributions into the Amcap fund which seems like a better fit considering my age and time until retirement, but didn't instruct him to do anything with any already invested funds. Is the Amcap fund good for somebody who is young and not risk averse? Should I do anything with the already invested money?
3. If I do try to max out the Simple IRA is it possible that I will over contribute? My adviser states that it will stop the contributions at $12,500, but I am not super confident in his knowledge. Is there any advantage to trying to max this out as quickly as possible? If I do max it early and am not contributing every payroll is there any chance that causes me to miss any employer contributions?
I really appreciate any insight that can be provided. This forum has been very helpful in helping me streamline my life and am thankful for any responses I'll get.