2024 is already drawing to a close, but there’s still time to make valuable contributions for your future.
There are only three months left of 2024, so now’s the perfect time to start thinking about making some retirement contributions before you get caught up in the holiday shopping season. If you’ve already been setting aside money this year, that’s great. If not, you can still make a substantial contribution to your future over these next few weeks.
If you want those dollars to be worth as much as possible when you retire, you need to think carefully about where you put them. Here are the three top places to put your retirement savings during these last few months of 2024.
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1. 401(k)
A 401(k) should be the first place you put retirement savings every year if your plan offers a company match. This match could be worth a few thousand dollars today and may be worth tens of thousands of dollars by retirement. But you must make contributions to your own account before your employer will set anything aside.
Check with your HR department if you’re unsure how much you must contribute to get the full match. Then, divide this by the number of pay periods left in the year to figure out how much you must defer per check. If you can’t claim the whole thing, that’s OK. Just get as much as you can. You can only make 401(k) contributions for 2024 until Dec. 31, so the sooner you start, the better.
If your 401(k) doesn’t have a company match, it could still be a good choice for your savings. Once you’ve set up your paycheck deferrals, you don’t have to remember to set money aside. Plus, they offer high contribution limits — $23,000 for adults under 50 in 2024 and $30,500 for adults 50 and older. But it doesn’t hurt to compare them with the other options listed below to decide if it’s the right spot for your money.
2. IRA
IRAs are a great alternative to a 401(k) if you don’t have access to one. You can open these with many brokers and some banks, too. They give you the freedom to invest your money however you’d like, and you also get a say in when you pay taxes on your funds. Traditional 401(k)s give you an upfront tax break when you make your contributions, but you pay taxes on your withdrawals. Roth IRAs require you to pay taxes on your contributions in the year you make them in exchange for tax-free withdrawals in retirement.
Generally, traditional IRAs make sense if you believe you’ll be in a lower tax bracket in retirement than you’re in today. They might also be your only option if your income is too high to contribute to a Roth IRA directly. If neither of those things apply to you, a Roth IRA could make more sense.
The biggest drawback to IRAs is that you’re limited to just $7,000 in contributions in 2024 or $8,000 if you’re 50 or older. That’s the limit for all your IRAs, not each account individually. Some people may have already hit this limit for 2024. In that case, you’ll have to try one of the other accounts listed here.
3. Health savings account (HSA)
Health savings accounts (HSAs) could also be a possibility if you have a high-deductible health insurance plan. This is defined as one that charges a deductible of at least $1,600 in 2024 for an individual plan or $3,200 for a family plan. You can open one of these accounts with many banks and some brokers. Whenever possible, opt for a provider that enables you to invest your HSA funds.
Contributions to your HSA reduce your taxable income for the year, like traditional IRA contributions. But you also get tax-free medical withdrawals at any age. You can make non-medical withdrawals as well. But these are taxable and you’ll also pay a 20% penalty if you’re under 65 at the time. Because of this, it’s best to avoid non-medical withdrawals and, ideally, avoid withdrawals for current medical expenses if you plan to use the account for retirement savings.
Those with qualifying health insurance plans can contribute up to $4,150 in 2024 while those with qualifying family plans can contribute up to $8,300. Adults 55 and older can add another $1,000 to these limits.
You can also spread your money across several of these accounts if you have access to them. If none of these are options, consider putting funds in a taxable brokerage account. This won’t give you the same tax breaks, but you can still invest the funds to increase your wealth. Alternatively, you can hold on to your funds and begin preparing to make 2025 contributions.