My 2008 Roth IRA is fully funded!

For the second year in a row, I get to cheer "I fully funded my Roth IRA!" One of my five goals for 2008 was to fully fund my Roth IRA. As I noted earlier this year, I fell short of funding during the calendar year. I believed my tax refund would cover most of the remaining amount and I was right. When I completed my federal and state taxes, I was looking at a refund of $1,040. With a contribution of $126 in savings, I would fund the last portion of my 2008 Roth IRA.

I was thrilled to get my money so quickly. Since I filed electronically, I received my state refund six days later and my federal refund seven days later although the amount was noted as nine days after filing. Then I transferred the money from my savings account to my checking, chose to make 2008 contributions to my Roth IRA index funds and waited for the transaction to go through.

My T. Rowe Price Account has two index funds. I allocated $718 to the Extended Equity Market Index Fund (PEXMX) and $448 to the International Equity Index Fund (PIEQX). Hopefully, I will buy my shares on a day without a market rally but volatility is the nature of the stock market.

Now I can focus on my 2009 contributions and how I will achieve fully funding my Roth IRA for a third year.