This month marks my official six month anniversary of both opening and starting my monthly contributions to my Roth IRA. After patting myself on the back and wanting to share the exciting news of my grown up path with friends – I came to the conclusion that most of my friends have no friggin idea what a Roth IRA is anyways. Who the heck is going to be excited about something they have no clue about?

After pondering said dilemna, I realized that-duh! There is totally a non snoring (yes, I say snoring – not boring. Why? Because it makes me happy, that’s why. And this is my blog after all. So I can do whatever I want.) Anyways, as I was saying – there is a totally non snoring way to explain all the excitement around this fabulous financial mechanism…

I present to you A Roth IRA: the Little Black Dress of Retirement.

Just like the Little Black Dress is timeless, elegant and well poised to remain a wardrobe staple for years to come, the Roth IRA is everlasting, can be dressed up or down and is designed to carry you through the years.

In short, a Roth IRA is for your retirement. It’s a savings account where contributions are made with after-tax money (meaning there is no tax break at year end). The break comes when you withdraw the principal and all earnings tax free. The catch? (There’s always a catch when the government is involved). An account must be 5 years old before withdrawals are made, and the account holder must be 59 ½  years old before withdrawing without penalty – bringing us back to the fact that this is for your old self, not your young self.

How does this relate to a little black dress? Well, you know how that dress is built to accentuate your eh’hem – ladies? And the time (probably hours) you spent picking out the perfect blend of fabric, cut and length?  Well your Roth IRA is meant to accentuate your retirement years. Taking the time (and it’s a small amount) to set up an account, turn on auto deposit and auto invest will definitely have you dancing through your leisurely years. So in lieu of the time you  invest picking out an appropriate dress, you’ll invest some money to guarantee your fab future self will still be able to front the cost.  Imagine an extra ounce of happiness for each $1,000 you have put away! (Really, in 40+ years – you will have $1,000s put away. It WILL happen. YOU just have to make it happen.)

And just like you can accessorize the dress to follow certain trends or to obtain different styles, you can also accessorize your Roth IRA by investing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds and more depending on the looks and goals you’re striving for.  A set of pearl earrings combined with pair of black patent leather shoes creates the perfect conservative ensemble, just as a few balanced mutual funds combined with high grade corporate bonds could create an ideal investment style.   

Having a Roth IRA will not only make your skin radiant from all that feel good energy bursting inside, but it’s also guaranteed to keep you looking like one damn sexy retiree! In addition to the “I look good” glow you have now when you put on your little black dress, you’ll also have a “I never have to go back to work” or “I’m going to Europe every summer for the next ten years” or “I’m going to buy a vacation house” glow about you when you think about how well you’ve taken care of yourself for the future.

The little black dress will come in a variety of fashions and trends throughout your life as will your Roth IRA. You’ll have different investment styles as you grow older and your risk tolerance changes. There will be times when you’ll want to be sexy and bold (by bold I mean riskier with your money) and other times that may call for an elegant, classic style. In the end though, the ultimate point of all of this is that just as the little black dress becomes a staple in your life at an early age – so too should the Roth IRA.