My Advice To Working Professionals

I’ve given financial advice to hundreds of working professionals who are at the midpoint or even the height of their career. If this sounds like you and you’re looking to set up a Betterment account, here is my general advice on how to do it.

Reconsider Your IRA

Many young professionals start with Roth IRAs or Roth 401(k)s. This usually makes sense if you plan to increase your income later in your career. But now that you are later on in your career, it might be time to switch to a Traditional IRA or Traditional 401(k).

🗹  TO DO: Our calculator can help you revisit your retirement account and decide what’s right for you at this point in your life.

Invest In Education—Literally

College is expensive, so it’s important to save and invest as much as you can while your child is still growing up. Once they’re 18, you’re out of time!

Ah, we couldn’t have said it better ourselves.

You can set up an education goal in your Betterment account to see how much you should be saving, what amount of risk to take on, and even sync any existing education savings accounts you have, such as a 529 account.

🗹  TO DO: Open a taxable Education goal and sync any other college savings accounts (such as 529s) to it.

You’re Busy—Save Time

If you’re in the prime of your career, chances are high that you are just plain busy. We know that you’ve got bigger problems on your hands to worry about than things like overdraft fees, how much you should be saving, or keeping track of the several accounts you have spread out all over the place.

Consolidate and automate with us. You can hold your investments, your savings, and your checking account all in one place, and if you want, we’ll automatically move the right amount of money from your checking account to Betterment Everyday™ Cash Reserve—and even back to your checking account, if needed.

🗹  TO DO: Do an audit of your financial accounts. Consider whether having an investing, savings, and checking account all in one place will save you time.

This is the advice I’ve given to other working professionals just like you. Set up your financial accounts the right way so that you can spend your time worrying about life’s other priorities.