How to Set Up Your Retirement Accounts in About 20 Minutes

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Setting up your retirement accounts doesn't have to be complicated. Learn how you can quickly open up an IRA in about 20 minutes!

Retirement can seem intimidating to some as they are planning their investments.

With so many options out there with different brokerages and different investment vehicles, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed.

I want you to know that it is possible to get started with investing, even if you don’t have a huge amount.

To show you how easy it is, during this week I want to take you through opening a new IRA and I will show you how to roll over your old 401(k) into an IRA.

So whether you two are new to investing or you're looking to optimize your current investment plans, it's easy to get your finances in order.

Today I want to share how easy you can get started with investing using Betterment and Wednesday I'll discuss rolling over an account to Vanguard. 

I feel like those two companies have a lot of value to offer with couples wanting to optimize their retirement accounts.

Why I Like Betterment

Quite simply, Betterment is for the passive investor looking to easily set up a retirement system, invest their money in index ETFs, and have it automatically re-allocated regularly for free. 

Investing with Betterment does have a huge advantage in that it’s simple to use and track.

Even if you don't have a lot of money to start your retirement, you can set an account up with Betterment.

I did a longer review about Betterment and how it works when it first opened and I've updated it as they lowered their fees.

I like Betterment as an investing company for a few reasons:

• Saves Money: Betterment is very reasonably priced. There are no transaction fees, no deposit/withdrawal fees, and no fees to rebalance your portfolio.
• SavesTime: Keeping your portfolio on target with your asset allocation is easy with Betterment as it's done automatically for you. You don't have to stress out about where to invest. Once you've set your plan, Betterment automates the process.
• Easy to Navigate: Going through the set up process was a snap. In addition to asking me for personal and funding information to open the account, Betterment also went ahead asked about financial goals we had.
• Keeps Investing Objective: One concern with new investors is knowing when to buy and sell.
• Encourages Contributions: The easiest way to stay on target for your investment goals is to go ahead and automate your IRA contributions. With Betterment, it's quick and easy to set-up so you don't have to remind yourself to make your monthly contribution.

While no investment company can be everything to everyone, I believe that Betterment can offer an easy solution for couples looking at getting their retirement investments up and running quickly without having to hover and worry over it.

It's extremely easy to maintain and adjust should you have to update your financial goals.

If you’re interested, you can sign up for a new account at Betterment here.

Opening an Account with Betterment

Putting our money with my mouth is, we opened a Roth IRA for my husband.

My husband needs an affordable way for him to invest without having to constantly check on whether he needs to buy, sell, or reallocate.

Automated contributions have worked well for him and he wanted some he could check up on occasionally.

I mentioned Betterment to him (and offered to get the account opened) and he said yes.

The review on their set-up process won't take long because it was a breeze.

• Personal Information: Starting off the process begins with gathering your basic personal and contact information, including your email. It took a minute to receive a confirmation request.
• Financial Information: Betterment requested some information about our family's ballpark figures with our finances and has an option to allow you to set up a link between your IRA and your bank account for future contributions.
• Goals: Next Betterment has some questions regarding my husband's retirement goals and his general risk tolerance. It recommended an asset allocation (which we were free to change) and gave some advice on how we could achieve our goals.

That was it.

From there we were free to check out their free tools and run some numbers with their calculators while the initial contribution was waiting to be made. It took about 10 minutes to set up.

If you're looking for an IRA that you two can manage effortlessly, Betterment can be that solution.

If you’re interested, you can sign up for a new account at Betterment here.

Thoughts on Setting Up Your Retirement Accounts

I definitely like Vanguard and Betterment as places to invest your IRA contributions.

They are both some great no hassle, low-cost options that make it simple to invest in your future.

Disclaimer – I am an affiliate of Betterment.  If you open an account I will be compensated. Just know that we use them for our own retirement system 🙂