melissel Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 If there's a non-working spouse or partner in your household, how do you address long-term/retirement savings for that person? If you had an extra $100 a month to put into retirement savings for that person, what would you do with it? IRA? CD? Savings account to keep it liquid? Something else? DH and I are facing this now, for the first time. He's upped his 401K to receive the maximum match, but I'm also concerned about my savings. I don't truly believe that DH and I will divorce or that he would stiff me somehow if we did, and we don't have a whole lot in retirement accounts at the moment anyway, but I've heard enough stories to feel that I want my own retirement nest egg, in my own name, just in case. And we're finally (and for now, anyway) in a place where we have a little extra to put into some kind of savings for me, but with rates so low, I feel like I might as well just put it under my mattress! Anyone care to make some suggestions or share how you handle it at your house? TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 IRA and savings account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I do have an Ira. However, in my state and, I believe, most states, dh's 401k would be considered "marital property" if we divorced. All of the money in it was invested during our marriage. Same with my Ira. I would not have any greater right to the money in my Ira than he would. He does have an Ira that was started before our marriage, so that would be partially his separate property. If there's a non-working spouse or partner in your household, how do you address long-term/retirement savings for that person? If you had an extra $100 a month to put into retirement savings for that person, what would you do with it? IRA? CD? Savings account to keep it liquid? Something else? DH and I are facing this now, for the first time. He's upped his 401K to receive the maximum match, but I'm also concerned about my savings. I don't truly believe that DH and I will divorce or that he would stiff me somehow if we did, and we don't have a whole lot in retirement accounts at the moment anyway, but I've heard enough stories to feel that I want my own retirement nest egg, in my own name, just in case. And we're finally (and for now, anyway) in a place where we have a little extra to put into some kind of savings for me, but with rates so low, I feel like I might as well just put it under my mattress! Anyone care to make some suggestions or share how you handle it at your house? TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Yes. Liquid savings (or cds with low penalties) up to 6 months of living expenses and then IRAs. If you max out dh's IRA, then you might as well put as much as you can into yours even if there isn't a corporation matching it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 If you have a savings account with an emergency fund then a Roth IRA would be a good option. Also, fyi, you should check your state laws to confirm but in a lot of states (including Texas where I live) you are intitled to half of your spouse's retirement even if you get divorced. It is usually based on the amount accumulated during the marriage. I used to work in HR and we often had to get signatures from ex-spouses before we could allow employees who were retiring to have access to their funds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Put the max allowed into a Roth IRA, and the rest in a money market. If rates go up, I might use some of the money in the mm and put it towards long term cd's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I have an IRA that DH contributes to from his paycheck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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