Investing: Seriously simpler than you thought.

So, now that you are saving money by buying products from Melaleuca and eating less meat (I've taken the challenge very seriously and it's going super well....keep doing it!), what are you going to do with the extra money that you are saving? We always hear horrors about the stock market--big crashes, people losing their wealth, etc, and that is true, that has happened. Twice in my lifetime that I can think of. However, you have to consider the overall trend of the stock market, and that is UP. After reading Mr. Money Mustache's blog and hopping on his financial freedom train, Dallin and I set a goal last September that we would each put away $100 a month from our paychecks for five months and open a Vanguard Roth IRA account by Christmas...due to a few complications and learning curves, we didn't get it done until the second week in February, but close enough. ;) We put $1000 in that account, and in the past 2 1/2 weeks that it has been open, we have already made $50 on it! Since we are so young and have a long time for that money to grow, we have our account set to a very aggressive plan--90% stocks and 10% bonds. That means that when the market is good, we have a REALLY good chance of making a lot of money, and the same goes for when the market is bad, we can lose money. However, the overall trend is up, and we have confidence that this will grow over time. As we get older and closer to retirement, we will slowly transition into having that account shift more towards bonds and less towards stocks--a less aggressive, but safer route to make sure that you don't lose your retirement income.What's the minimum amount to open one of these IRA's? Well, with Vanguard, there is no minimum amount, and there is no minimum per-month payment (according to the helpful guy on the phone that we spoke to). You could literally open an account with $10 and contribute $1 every month to keep it open. But seriously, we all have the saving power and cutting-back power to put away a little more than that. Cut out Starbucks for a week: Savings = $25. DON'T go buy that new shirt or new makeup item you've been wanting: Savings = $10. Take meat out of your diet this week and don't go out to eat at all: Savings = $30. Next semester? Borrow, rent, or buy your textbooks used and save HUNDREDS of dollars. There are so many easy ways to cut back in our lives and save money. Opening an account like this NOW gives you a huge time advantage that can add up to thousands of dollars more by the time you retire and dip into the account. Seriously...do a little research. I'm not a number-cruncher, I just read the number-crunching articles and read lots of them and then I believe and follow them.
So, be BRAVE! Go open an account with Vanguard (we LOVE them)....Put fifty dollars in there, and set your account to high stocks, low bonds, and set up an automatic withdrawal every month to make sure that you keep yourself on the right track to retiring early and happy and not having to work until you are 85. If you want some super awesome stats on this and another article to back me up, check out Mr. Money Mustache's article on investing. It's awesome! For that matter, check out his whole website. I'm devouring his blog posts like these quinoa patties that I made for dinner the other night....healthy, delicious, and meat-free. My body and wallet are loving it...and yours will too. Keep up with your no meat challenge...what is this, day five? I can't even remember...it's been such an easy, awesome change for me, I think I'm going to just keep it up. On the menu tonight? This super yummy, meat-free creamy spinach and mushroom lasagna and a side salad.