It took me a few years to finally land the dream job as an Editor/Senior Analyst with the independent investment research firm I am currently working for. Before this time I gained valuable experience in the financial advisory and banking industries as a Portfolio Manager. The problem I found was that neither of these places was a good fit for me. My gut instinct was that these positions would not last long.

There’s something about an initial interview that can sometimes rub you the wrong way – and that’s exactly what happened to me. I’ve been through it all – working for assholes, having my ideas ignored (until now), and being placed in unprofessional environments. With most of these companies I worked for there was often policy in place stating that you couldn’t contribute any funds to a 401k until one year’s time with the firm.

Raw deal if you ask me…

So, I decided to delay contributions to my 401k and continue to place discretionary income into my individual investment account as well as in the new peer-to-peer lending site Prosper.

However, in my previous banking position I did decide to establish a 401k, not knowing that this dream job would come knocking on my door in just three months time.

So, there I was in an exit interview with my previous employer, following my two weeks notice, and I had the option to roll it over. The problem was that I couldn’t roll it over into my ordinary trading account simply because it wasn’t an IRA, Roth IRA, or other type of retirement account. The only other option I had was to liquidate the account and take the hit in taxes.

The moral of the story is that you should establish some type of IRA or Roth IRA account so that no matter where you go, you’ll always have a place to roll your money over into. If you do not have one, open an account immediately and start saving for your future.

If any of you out there have a good story that you believe will help other readers on our site, feel free to make use of the comment box below. We’d love to hear from you!