ok speaking of financial advice, i am just starting my career and landed a great job but my investments and planning now will really effect how well i do later in my life.
since i'm completely new at this, do any of you guys have any advice or "i wish i knew that when i was just starting out" tips for investing my money and financial planning?
here's what i know so far...
1) online forums aren't the place to ask for financial advice haha
2) pre-tax investments lower your taxable income - 401k, etc.
3) don't howmuchamonth anything if you can avoid it
my company has a stock/profit-sharing plan where the holding period is only 3 days and you get a good discount on the shares so even if the stock declines or doesn't grow you still profit. i'm going to put the max percentage that i can into this.
i was thinking about 401k/ira plans and it seems that i should start investing in 401k but i'm not sure how much. the company doesn't start matching until a year passes and then there's a time where you aren't completely vested. also, there are early-withdrawal tax penalties and you can't touch the money until retirement from what i gather but the pre-tax investment is beneficial.
basically i have several decisions to make as far as insurance and long-term disability elections, wage deductions, 401k, profit sharing/stock investments, etc. and would like to hear you all's perspective
also, i have one savings and one checking account with one bank (BOA) and know people have several other accounts at different banks - what are the positives of this? is it just to build relationships with banks for future loans or what? maybe i should open an account with wachovia as well? hmm. right now i'm paying tons of bills (utilities, insurance, rent, etc.) but most of them are all checking account deduction payments - if i could pay with a credit/charge card that would be a significant amount of points and free airline miles.
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