The Money Mustache Community

Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Investor Alley => Topic started by: M. Night JoJo on March 29, 2018, 08:31:12 PM

Title: Should I keep my Roth IRA?
Post by: M. Night JoJo on March 29, 2018, 08:31:12 PM

Hello Community,

I'm a newbie to the MMM thing.  This outlook has motivated me to get a great job working overseas and I actually have money to invest now. Below are my stats.

39 year old guy
Bringing in $20K after taxes, possibly as much as 40K going forward.
Roth IRA with 21K at National Life Group (Keep it?)
15K cash
7,500 in a California Teacher's Retirement fund (will not continue to contribute to this, and apparently can't be rolled over to a Roth IRA)
30K student loan debt with Navient

Open to MMM's idea to invest with Vanguard

Currently learning the ins and outs of Real Estate, but no solid plans yet.

Thanks for your input.

JoJo

Title: Re: Should I keep my Roth IRA?
Post by: seattlecyclone on March 29, 2018, 09:07:12 PM

It really depends on your life plans. Do you plan to return to the US someday, or do you plan to remain in a different country forever? If the latter, how does the country you're in treat Roth IRAs from a tax perspective? Different countries have different laws and tax treaties so it's impossible to give a one-size-fits-all answer here. If you do plan to keep a Roth IRA, I'd suggest rolling it over to Vanguard or whatever low-cost provider would take on a client who currently lives abroad. I know that's often a sticking point because America tries to impose ridiculous regulations on Americans who live overseas and the banks that do business with them, and many institutions just decide the hassle isn't worth it.