My theme song today is Level of Concern by Twenty One Pilots. I woke up with it in my head during the night, and I'm hoping if I post it here it will finally leave. Don't get me wrong -I don't mind the be-boppy song the first time I hear it; but it can be an ear worm for sure.

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I felt the urge to provide this addendum to my last post (regarding Roth IRA's):

If you and/or your working kids haven't contributed to your own Roth IRAs yet, you really should start this year. See this link for more info: https://www.kiplinger.com/article/retirement/t046-c006-s001-why-you-need-a-roth-ira.html.

From the start, you should see it as a retirement investment account, not just a retirement savings account.

You can trade stocks with your contributions as easily as purchasing on Amazon. But you shouldn't buy a stock until you've done a little research first. It's easy to look up stock symbols on the Internet and find out whether their records indicate they are financially sound and under/overvalued. For instance, Fidelity summarizes analysts' conclusions in this regard for each stock daily, and all you have to do is click on the stock symbol in your portfolio (Roth IRA account).

Roth IRA contributions are taxed going in (but not coming out), and you can take these out at any time. But, except for certain things like education and buying your first house, you cannot take out investment earnings (without penalty) until you are 59, at which point they are tax free (!).

My Roth IRA is with Fidelity: https://www.fidelity.com/retirement-ira/roth-ira. They will hold your hand and help you set up your Roth IRA, as will Vanguard, Ameritrade, Charles Schwab, etc.

*** Just commit to:

1) Reassess each stock's financials weekly (or just monthly/annually depending on your confidence in your investments), and

2) Only buy stocks in companies that

a) Analysts rate as undervalued and financially sound (as reported by your financial institution), and

b) You are confident are going to be in business until you're 59 (i.e., Apple, Kroger, Texas Instruments, CISCO...).

Do it NOW.

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If you missed my post regarding my recent preoccupation with the stock market, you can read it here: http://www.melissarooneywriting.com/blog/2021/03/everyday-addiction/.