Latest responses to “Four Basic Steps To Jump Start Your Financial Future” Copyright 2012, MoneyBlueBook.com 411620 2008-07-02T12:30:29-07:00 Sherin That a thought. Excellent presentation and you are really appreciated on this fantastic article. Well done !!! 411610 2007-12-13T20:49:53-08:00 Philip Brewer It's not necessarily that hard to come up with some earned income. Basically, you just have to get someone to pay you for doing something. It may be hard to find someone who will pay you enough to support yourself, but just earning a few hundred (even a few thousand) dollars doesn't have to be that hard. Find some contract work. Find some seasonal work. Work in a family business, if any family members have one. Talk to people in your department and explain the rules about Roths, and see if anyone has any work that needs doing that they'd be willing to pay you for. (Maybe they'll pay you a small amount to write grant proposals, with an understanding that they'll hire you if the grant gets funded.) Worst case (because you need to be careful to dot your Is and cross your Ts), if there are any relatives that are giving you money, arrange for them to pay you instead. Be sure to actually do a reasonable amount of work for the money (and document the work that was done), to cover everyone with regard to the tax man, but it's legal as long as the pay is for work. 411600 2007-12-13T02:43:31-08:00 Raymond Yes that is quite an unfortunate earned income predicament. I presume you're not married because if you were you could still contribute to a Roth if the couple filed jointly (assuming the other spouse had earned income). Unfortunately if you don't have the requisite earned income, you can't contribute to a Roth. I would recommend just putting the money in a savings account or investing it wisely - to get that compound interest started. At the very least I am glad that you are actually thinking about saving for the future so early in your life. Good job! 411590 2007-12-13T01:07:31-08:00 E.C. What would you recommend for those of us who've diligently followed the other three steps but are not yet eligible for step 3? There are some quirky rules that mean that fellowships don't count as earned income, even though they may well expect you to spend X hours a week doing a specific task to get the money. It's supposed to be an advantage by saving us from having to pay FICA taxes, but it's kind of a drag when it comes to saving for retirement.