Retirement Planning...?

[ally]

I'm looking into planning for retirement, or setting up retirement accounts (i.e. 403b, 401k, roth ira, traditional ira). Im 19 and i roughly make 18,000 a year. how much money should i put in a month? if so, which accounts would most benefit me? which accounts would be best to use? Thanks for the help!

[olegos]

If your company matches your 401(k) contributions, definitely first try to contribute to it enough to get the maximum match. If there is no match, or if you have more money left, contribute to Roth IRA. You'll need to pay taxes now, but you're probably in a lower tax bracket now than you'll be in later.

Here's a helpful article for you:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/25/pf/expert/ask_expert/index.htm

[ssi1111]

This calculator will give you an idea. You can change the amount you would like to have during retirement and see how much you should save every year/month.
http://www.expenseregister.com/Home/calculators/retirementCalculator/retirementCalculator.php