Saturday Night at the Movies: Taking the Confusion Out of Personal Finance (Airplane, The Movie)

Saturday Night at the Movies uses great films to explore some aspect of personal finance. Published Saturdays at 7 PM, get your front row seat by subscribing to The Dough Roller.

Do you find some aspects of personal finance and investing to be confusing? I know at times I do. For example, which is better, a Roth 401(k) or a standard 401(k)? At this point, you may even be asking what a Roth 401(k) is. Even "simple" questions such as how much life insurance you should buy, or how much you should save for retirement can befuddle the best of us. And this confusion reminds me of a scene from Airplane! (Don't Call Me Shirley! Edition). Released in 1980, I remember seeing the movie in the theaters (and yes, I know how old that makes me). So check out this "confusing" clip (25 seconds), and then we'll see if we can take some of the confusion out of personal finance and investing:

There is a lot to know about personal finance and investing. And the first thing to recognize is that you can't learn it all at once. I've been studying and learning about investing for 15 years, and I continue to learn new things every week. So understand that learning about personal finance and investing is a life long process.

With that said, I've collected what I think are some great blog articles that can start you on your way. Some are from The Dough Roller, but some are from other great blogs.

Resources for the new investor: New Investor Toolkit (@ The Dough Roller)

Roth 401(k) v. Traditional 401(k): Choosing Between the Roth or Traditional 403b / 401k : Our Decision Process (@My Money Blog)

Alternative Minimum Tax: Understanding AMT (@ Lightship Mutual)

How much do you need to retire: Determine Your Retirement Needs in 3 Easy Steps (@ Moolanomy)

Understanding retirement accounts: The World's Easiest Guide to Understanding Retirement Accounts (@ I Will Teach You To Be Reach)(Note: This dates back to May 2006, so some of the information is dated, but a great read)

Picking a mutual fund: How to Pick Your First Mutual Fund and How to Evaluate a Mutual Fund in 60 Seconds Flat (both @ The Dough Roller)

This is just the start. If you know of other blog posts that describe some confusing aspect of personal finance or investing, please let me know and I'll add it to the list. Got it? Roger! Huh?

Tagged as: 401(k), AMT, mutual funds, Retirement, roth 401(k)

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