Let's discuss whats steps you need to take to properly start your retirement savings. Most people instantly jump to the question of Traditions 401K or Roth and what stock mutual fund or index fund do I need to buy. Our retirement savings though needs to have a more firm foundation though. Before your start stacking coins or putting money in a retirement account you need to have a plan to get out of debt. Debt payments kill your ability to save for retirement. Additionally, you will need to make sure that you have an emergency fund put aside in a separate savings account. This fund will prevent you from having to go into debt when things come up in your life and it also will prevent you from having to raid your hard saved retirement savings. Finally, when you have a plan to be out of debt and an emergency fund set aside you are ready to start savings for retirement. Here in teh stacking community we tend to want to jump to buying metals but most of the time you are better off using the tax advantage retirement account through your job. The 401k wether it is Roth or not offers you a great way to steadily build your retirement savings. Once you are regularly putting money aside its time to give yourself a second physical hedge against price volatility and start buying gold and silver bullion. Precious metals play a great role in your retirement savings but you can't forget about the other options that complete your diversification.