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This is Optimal Finance Daily episode 41111 how to invest when you don't have a 401k

part one by Kristen Wong of the wild Wong dot com

and I am Dan I'm here each Monday through Friday reading to you from some of the best blogs on personal finance anywhere,

and we put it all into podcast form for you, just like a big financial audio book.

Now today's post is a little bit on the longer side so I'm breaking it up into two

parts for you I'll read the first half today and then I'll finish it up tomorrow

so let's get right to part one as we optimize your life. How to invest when you don't have a 401k, part one by Kristen Wong of the Wild Wong.com At 24 I had no clue how investing worked. I didn't know a stock from a bond.

Index fund? What's that? My idea of investing was the hope that my childhood beanie baby collection might be worth money someday.

However, despite my lack of even basic knowledge around the subject, at the time I was actually investing without even realizing it.

To make up for a modest salary, my employer... actually investing without even realizing it.

To make up for a modest salary, my employer had a nice perk, something called a 401k

match.

You save a little of your own salary in a retirement account and they match some of your savings.

You have to do this, an older coworker told me.

It's basically like they're giving you money.

My coworkers seem to know what he was talking about,

...