---""Personally, I dont think it is smart financial planning to have your entire life savings in your retirement account." Why not?"" I'd like to clarify the above response. The only exception that I can think of is an emergency account.--- Assuming you are funding your retirement account appropriately to provide adequate retirement income, why would you put additional savings into retirement accounts? Once there, you can't use them easily and without penalty until you are retirement age. No, tax savings from tax-deferred accounts are not inconsequential, but neither is the freedom that comes with having money available to use how when for what you want. I am putting money into a combination of 401k and Roth retirement accounts at a rate which will conservatively provide me with adequate retirement income. This is less than the max--(although well over employer-match). Every thing else goes into ordinary ol' non-tax-deferred investment accounts. It's not really "emergency" money--- i also have 6-month living expense emergency funds in my bank account. But I am in my 30s. Why would I put any money above and beyond what I will need for retirement somewhere that I can't easily reach it for the next 15-20 years? Maybe I'll want to go to grad school and want to use it for tuition. Maybe I'll get married and want to put my husband through school. Or my husband's kids. Maybe I'll want to buy a bigger more expensive house and want to use it for down payment. Or a second vacation and/or investment home. I might want to take a year off work and travel. I might want to take a year off work and be a mommy to a new baby. I might not *want* to take a year off work but be forced to when I'm fired from my current job and it takes me a year to find a new one. I might want start-up money for my own business. I might have a sudden desire for one of those convertible Mercedes two-seaters (is it the SL i think).... I might I might I might. Freedom (and security) is "why not?" (which are the same reasons btw that I'm saving it in the first place rather than simply spending everything above and beyond what I've decided I need to save for retirement)

No one can answer this without way more detailed data. You need to share: -What your AGI was last year -Your total tax bill last year -How much tax was witheld last year -How much you owe the IRS from the difference between the 2 above -What penalties and interest they are charging you (including details on when more penalties are being added) -What sort of payments you are making now, and what you are able to make if you squeeze your budget a little more. -What your income is projected to be this year -How big your retirement nest egg is, and in what form (401k, IRA, Roth, etc.) -How old your husband is If you care to open your kimono and share all that, we might be able to provide you a little more educated guess, but the mathematical answer depends on your info above. For example, if you owe $10,000 and your income is $100,000 the answer is probably "just tighten your belt and pay it off in a few months." If you owe $100,000 and your income is $10,000, then you might have no other options than your retirement nest egg, regardless of how big it is. But all the other stuff factors in as well, like how fast the penalties and interest are piling up and what tax bracket you're in now.

I will give your question a shot and I am sure others will also add their advice. On question 1 - I suspect that the fees charged to manage the 403B are less that those charged for the 401k Here is info from the IRS website on 403B plans "IRC 403(b) Plans Certain employers are allowed to have Internal Revenue Service (IRC) 403(b) Tax-Sheltered Annuity plans. You are allowed to have a 403(b) plan if you are: A public school, college or university, A church, A public hospital, or A charitable entity tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Code. Basically, 403(b) plans are similar to 401(k) plans maintained by for-profit entities. Just as with a 401(k) plan, a 403(b) plan lets employees defer some of their salary. In this case, their deferred money goes to a 403(b) plan sponsored by the employer. This deferred money generally does not get taxed by the federal government or by most state governments until distributed. This is just as it is with 401(k) plans." I assume that your husband's employer meets the requirements for establishing a 403B plan. On question 2 - You can roll the money into a traditional IRA without having any tax consequences. You need to set it up as a direct rollover - that is the company that holds the 401K transfers the money directly to the bank/investment company that will have your husband's IRA. You cannot roll the money into a Roth IRA. The money that is contributed to a ROTH IRA has already had the income taxes paid on it. The money in the 401k has not had any taxes paid on it. If the money goes into a traditional IRA, you need to establish a separate IRA for that money. If your husband ever goes to work with a company that has a 401K plan that allows rollovers into the plan and your husband chooses to roll this portion of his IRA into that new employer's plan, it must not be mingled with other retirement funds. Good luck.

Deemarie - The investment value of a Roth IRA will depend on how you invest it. Depending on the firm that you are with, you should have many choices as to the kinds of funds available. DH and I like our Roths because they are 1) tax free, and 2) we will never have to draw on them if we don't want to, and can leave them to our children. With a regular IRA you must begin withdrawing money at age 70 1/2. No such rule applies to Roths. I like Fidelity for Roths as it has an enormous number of funds, from money markets to many bond funds to a great array of equity funds. One click of the keyboard and you can switch to another fund at any time, with no penalties. Be sure to look for no-load funds.