The $23,000 Roth IRA Mistake That Taught Me the 3-Filter Rule

I lost $23,000 in my Roth IRA doing this. 🫠

Back in 2019, I proudly opened a Roth IRA, maxed it out for 3 years… and never invested the cash.

Yep. It just sat there. Earning nothing. While the S&P 500 ran up 60%+.

That single mistake cost me ~$23K in gains I’ll never get back.

So I built what I now call the 3-Filter Rule — the exact checklist I run every dollar through before it touches an investment account:

🔹 FILTER 1: FEES
Anything over 0.20% expense ratio? Hard pass.
Look for low-cost index funds like VTI, VOO, or FZROX. A 1% fee can eat 25% of your returns over 30 years. That’s not a typo.

🔹 FILTER 2: TIME HORIZON
Money you need in <5 years = HYSA, not stocks.
Money you won’t touch for 20+ years = broad market index funds.
Match the vehicle to the timeline or you’ll panic-sell at the worst moment.

🔹 FILTER 3: TAX WRAPPER
Order of operations that changed my life:
1. 401(k) up to the employer match (free money)
2. Max the Roth IRA ($7K in 2024)
3. Back to 401(k) or taxable brokerage
Skipping the match is like turning down a 100% return. Don’t.

The brutal truth: opening the account is 10% of the work. Actually buying the investments inside it is the other 90%.

If your Roth has cash sitting in it right now — go check. I’ll wait. 👀

💾 SAVE this so you don’t repeat my $23K mistake
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Which filter do you need to fix first — 1, 2, or 3? 👇

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Comment “FILTER” and I’ll DM you my free beginner investing checklist