403B vs Roth IRA for older employee

[Guest goatgurl2]

I am a 55 yr old teacher with little accumulated retirement savings and am trying to decide whether to put what money I can save into a 403B or a Roth IRA. I have a 403B right now but it is making about 5.5% -- it is on a fixed basis -- and have been talking to another company about switching to their 403B and letting them manage the fund stuff (AXA to be exact). But in the meantime I have been reading about Roth IRA's and wondering if I might be better off with that. I (quite obviously) don't know much about the whole financial business and really would not be up to the self-directed level of investment. I know I can't earn a lot from either one in the time I have left -- I would really like to retire at 62 but acknowledge that I will probably need to wait until I'm 65. Can anyone give me their opinion of what I should do?

[Guest Ira Hayes]

You have to start by defining your objectives. For example, you should be able to answer the follwoing questions before sitting down with a professional investment advisor:

Do I want a guaranteed level lifetime income?

Do I want provision in my retirement for indexing to keep pace with ionflation?

How much risk can I tolerate (i.e., can I afford to lose)??

I am a 55 yr old teacher with little accumulated retirement savings and am trying to decide whether to put what money I can save into a 403B or a Roth IRA. I have a 403B right now but it is making about 5.5% -- it is on a fixed basis -- and have been talking to another company about switching to their 403B and letting them manage the fund stuff (AXA to be exact). But in the meantime I have been reading about Roth IRA's and wondering if I might be better off with that. I (quite obviously) don't know much about the whole financial business and really would not be up to the self-directed level of investment. I know I can't earn a lot from either one in the time I have left -- I would really like to retire at 62 but acknowledge that I will probably need to wait until I'm 65. Can anyone give me their opinion of what I should do?