How to Setup Your Dream IRA in Under 10 Minutes a Day

Why would it take more than one day to setup an IRA? Shouldn’t it just take 20 minutes to open an IRA online?

It sounds pretty simple to just start an IRA but when you look at the number of eligible people who don’t have an Individual Retirement Account it makes you wonder – what’s holding them back?

IRA Questions

I’ve been asking this question a lot lately, not just about retirement accounts but about commonly procrastinated financial decisions in general.  Here’s some of what I’ve found, tell me if you’ve ever felt this way.

You have a lot of questions around a specific topic, such as retirement investing. You block off some time for research but don’t get all your questions answered and your busy life moves you onto something else.

In the back of your mind you know you should open a retirement account and you feel guilty not having one, but you don’t feel informed enough to be comfortable making that decision.

Here are some of the questions you might be asking about opening an IRA:

• Should I invest my money at all?
• Should it be a Roth IRA or Traditional IRA?
• Where should I open my IRA?
• How much money should I put into my IRA?
• Should I automatically deposit money, if so, how much?
• Which investments should I put my money into?
• What % of allocation should I put my money in?
• Who should I ask for help with my IRA?

Trying to get all these things figured out at once can be overwhelming. Not having answers to these questions makes you nervous and can keep you from starting your retirement savings. 

Retirement Planning On Your Schedule

Rather than trying to tackle all your uncertainties about your IRA at once, it makes sense to me to take them one at a time.  Instead of pressuring yourself to get all your questions answered right away, spend a small block of time every day or every few days and work on your questions one at a time.

Suddenly you lose the expectation of getting it all figured out right away.  You’re less likely to rush into a premature decision in order to get it taken care of.  You also don’t feel frustrated and behind after the first day when you only have the first task completed.

I call it your “Dream IRA” because going at your own pace allows you time to craft your retirement account according to your needs.

Under 10 Minutes a Day

Over the next two weeks I’ll walk you through the steps of getting your IRA Questions answered, so this is just the first of a series of posts on how to create your Dream IRA in Under 10 Minutes a day.

Rather than dump it all into one big post and overwhelm you with IRA facts and tasks, I’m going to break it out into a step at a time.  This follows the approach of working on it a little bit at a time but will still get your retirement setup before the IRA deadline.

Ben Edwards, the founder of Money Smart Life, saved up enough to buy a Nintendo back when he was 12 years old. When he used the money to buy shares of Wal-Mart stock instead, he knew he wasn't like the other kids... His addiction to personal finance has paid off for his family and now he's helping you to afford the life that you want. Check him out on the web at Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook.

All posts by Ben Edwards