I have 15k to invest for retirement. A friend suggest a Ladder system CD. He described it breifly to me. Is this a good idea to just let it roll over and over for 40 years? I have no 401k thru work (working 2 parttime jobs atm). Or is it my best interest to just open an IRA like other forums here have suggested? Any answers are greatly appreciated.
Could you explain what your friend meant by a ladder CD? If it’s the strategy I’ve heard of, I think that it’s intended for savings that you might use for unexpected expenses (home repairs/upgrades/etc.), but not really as a long-term investment strategy for retirement funds. CD interest rates are much lower than what people generally want for long-term investments.
I would think that if you’re starting with 15K and have 40 years, you might want to split it up into something that has a relatively low, but guaranteed yield and some higher-risk investments that have potentially higher yields.
Take a look at some of the books recommended in this thread for long-term investment strategies.