Time to make a move..... Where to go with 15k?

[SMCx3]

We have some extra dollars which I need to turn into soldiers. We are currently debt free outside of mortgage.  At the age of 45 we are finally looking ahead instead of playing catch up.

Current investment accounts:
401k - Maxed out contributions for 2015. Not looking to make any changes.
American Funds IRA #1- 35k - roll over account from previous job.
American Funds IRA #2 - 21K - SO roll over account from previous job.
Capital One Taxable Investment - 4K

We have not touched or contributed to the two IRA accounts over the past 15 years.  We currently have around 15k cash I am looking to invest.  I am considering combining the two IRA accounts, moving them to Vangaurd for lower fee investments.  In addition looking to invest in our IRA or a Roth IRA. 

Would you combine these accounts?  Where would you go with the 15k? 

Thank you for your thoughts.

[MVal]

Do you have an emergency fund already? If not, maybe you could just use this for that. Since you haven't contributed to your IRA in 15 years, why not max that out this year to maximize your tax advantages? Then you could take the remaining $10,000 and put in a high interest savings account or something.

[Frankies Girl]

Definitely move (rollover) the two American Funds accounts to anyplace else - Vanguard is the best default if you have no preference. Combine them if they both belong to the same person (but I think they don't as one says "SO" so does that stand for significant other? In that case, you can't combine them and they will still belong to their respective individuals - IRA stands for INDIVIDUAL retirement account), and get out of whatever AM had you in, and into some Vanguard funds to match up with your chosen asset allocation.

If it makes sense for your tax situation, then contribute the max to the newly created rollover IRA (which counts as a traditional IRA), or create a brand new Roth IRA and contribute to that instead.

As you are saying "we" a bunch, I'm going to assume you have a spouse of some sort; in that case they should also open/create either a traditional or Roth IRA (if one of those AM IRAs doesn't already belong to them), and max that out as well.

This would take up $11,000 of the $15K you want to invest.

If you do end up maxing both traditional IRAs, keep in mind that you might be eligible for a tax break/credit (I forget what it's called) come tax time depending on your AGI. Can double check this over on the TurboTax TaxCaster (the retirement tab in the Deductions, Credits & Payments section): https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/

I'd personally save the remaining $4k until January 2, 2016 and then get a jump on maxing out one of the IRAs again for that calendar year, but I could see the argument to throw it into a taxable account now too.

[SMCx3]

Do you have an emergency fund already? If not, maybe you could just use this for that. Since you haven't contributed to your IRA in 15 years, why not max that out this year to maximize your tax advantages? Then you could take the remaining $10,000 and put in a high interest savings account or something.

Yes, I have emergency fund in place. This money is sitting in my savings not working for us.  Looks like it is time to Vangaurd. 

Appreciate the repsonse.

[SMCx3]

Definitely move (rollover) the two American Funds accounts to anyplace else - Vanguard is the best default if you have no preference. Combine them if they both belong to the same person (but I think they don't as one says "SO" so does that stand for significant other? In that case, you can't combine them and they will still belong to their respective individuals - IRA stands for INDIVIDUAL retirement account), and get out of whatever AM had you in, and into some Vanguard funds to match up with your chosen asset allocation.

If it makes sense for your tax situation, then contribute the max to the newly created rollover IRA (which counts as a traditional IRA), or create a brand new Roth IRA and contribute to that instead.

As you are saying "we" a bunch, I'm going to assume you have a spouse of some sort; in that case they should also open/create either a traditional or Roth IRA (if one of those AM IRAs doesn't already belong to them), and max that out as well.

This would take up $11,000 of the $15K you want to invest.

If you do end up maxing both traditional IRAs, keep in mind that you might be eligible for a tax break/credit (I forget what it's called) come tax time depending on your AGI. Can double check this over on the TurboTax TaxCaster (the retirement tab in the Deductions, Credits & Payments section): https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/

I'd personally save the remaining $4k until January 2, 2016 and then get a jump on maxing out one of the IRAs again for that calendar year, but I could see the argument to throw it into a taxable account now too.

Thank you for the guidance.  Yes, SO is my wife.  We talked today after reading your post and she is looking into the tax credit, but it is time to max out the IRA.