[USER]

I am an educator in S FL and a novice to investing. I currently have a Roth with Schwab. Is it better to just invest in the S&P 500 with Schwab or open a 403B with my district.

I met with a rep from Primerica but I am hesitant to sign up with him.

Advice greatly appreciated

[Al]

Careful, they may try to sell you an insurance product as an investment. If they say UIL, run! This happened to my wife. Don’t make any decisions about it right there.

Keep doing your own Roth and make sure you invest it.

Don’t just have the money in it without investing it.

[Kathy]

I would max my Roth first. I taught and a lot of 403b are insurance based I did finally get axa and was able to buy sp500 but it was only the last 5 years

[Christine]

Yes, invest in S&P500 through Schwab
Look for the Schwab version of VSTAX

[John]

403b options are usually crappy. Unfortunately teachers get lousy options. I used a 403b to dramatically reduce my income and therefore taxes while I worked.

I had an almost 50% savings rate to hit FIRE. Of course I fully funded my Roth every year in early January.

Be aware that you pay taxes later on any 403b contributions.

I am rolling mine into my Roth and paying taxes in early retirement ( Roth conversions)

[Darren]

Teacher here. I would max the Roth IRA first. Then check to see if you have a 403b or 457b option that’s low fee and lets you choose Vanguard or Fidelity.

Luckily, my district is with Vanguard for the 403b.

I max my IRA first and then do S&P in my 403 and Russel 1000 in my 457.

Just so you know, a 457 also lets you withdraw penalty free when you leave employment with no age limit, so it’s great for a bucket 1 in early retirement if you’re planning to be out before 59.

[Author]

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