Hi /r/personalfinance! Financial newb here.

As you probably surmised from the title, I am a 26 year old redditor with about 27k currently in the bank.

Now that April 15th is fast approaching, I am considering putting the max $5,500 into a Roth IRA for the 2014 year. With that said, I have other financial considerations that make me wonder if there is a better plan.

First and foremost is one of my immediate goals, which is to get dental veneers. They are very expensive (probably 6-9k). I realize that is a lot of money but it has been an important goal of mine, and I’d like to do it while I am young-ish for personal reasons.

Secondly is that I hope to own a house in the next 2-3 years, which will likely require a 60-80k down payment. Rent in this area (DC metro region) is a bit high and I know I’d like to stay in the region, so it seems like a (maybe) realistic medium term goal.

Other possibly relevant information:

•My understanding with a Roth is that I could not touch the money for 5 years, which would fall on the later end of that medium-term goal; also doing so would defeat the purpose

•My company has a generous contribution percentage for my 403b retirement plan; I contribute 2 % of my salary (43-44k) and they contribute 13 %

•My cost of living has been pretty low recently as I moved back in with the folks about 6 months ago to try and save, but I am trying to get back out again soon; rent alone will probably take up a third of my take home, so my saving power will be significantly reduced

Given all of that, my question to you /r/personalfinance is do you think the Roth is the way to go or is there a better financial vehicle I can use for retirement?
Also, feel free to tell me I am wildly unrealistic in my financial thinking; it is not my forte.
user
26yo, 27k in the bank, dent veneers and a house in
assistant
Hi /r/personalfinance! Financial newb here.

As you probably surmised from the title, I am a 26 year old redditor with about 27k currently in the bank.

Now that April 15th is fast approaching, I am considering putting the max $5,500 into a Roth IRA for the 2014 year. With that said, I have other financial considerations that make me wonder if there is a better plan.

First and foremost is one of my immediate goals, which is to get dental veneers. They are very expensive (probably 6-9k). I realize that is a lot of money but it has been an important goal of mine, and I’d like to do it while I am young-ish for personal reasons.

Secondly is that I hope to own a house in the next 2-3 years, which will likely require a 60-80k down payment. Rent in this area (DC metro region) is a bit high and I know I’d like to stay in the region, so it seems like a (maybe) realistic medium term goal.

Other possibly relevant information:

•My understanding with a Roth is that I could not touch the money for 5 years, which would fall on the later end of that medium-term goal; also doing so would defeat the purpose

•My company has a generous contribution percentage for my 403b retirement plan; I contribute 2 % of my salary (43-44k) and they contribute 13 %

•My cost of living has been pretty low recently as I moved back in with the folks about 6 months ago to try and save, but I am trying to get back out again soon; rent alone will probably take up a third of my take home, so my saving power will be significantly reduced

Given all of that, my question to you /r/personalfinance is do you think the Roth is the way to go or is there a better financial vehicle I can use for retirement?
Also, feel free to tell me I am wildly unrealistic in my financial thinking; it is not my forte.
user
26 year old redditor with ~27k, about $5k in the bank.
assistant