What Castro's Brother Needs to Know (Before Starting His New Job)

Raul Castro may be old enough to retire, he's 76, but instead, he is gearing up to run a country. On February 24, Raul officially became president of Cuba, a job he essentially inherits from his big brother, Fidel. "Fidel is irreplaceable," said Raul in a speech. "The people will continue his work when he is no longer with us physically, though his ideas always will be here." 

Whether you are leading a rebellious island nation, or just switching accounting firms, starting a new job is a good time to reevaluate how you organize your savings. According to financial planners, one of the most important reasons to save is for an emergency. (After all, you never know when the forces of revolution, or corporate downsizing, may strike.) Experts also agree that when an emergency does take place, you should not tap into your retirement savings.

“Avoid your retirement funds at all costs,” says Liz Weston, author of Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want Out of Life. “401(k)s, IRAs, you often can’t put that money back. It’s an early withdrawal and even if you avoid the penalties, you pay taxes and you have to deal with losing all the future tax deferred earnings that money could have earned.” Weston says to add a zero to the end of the amount you would take out and that is how much you can presume you are losing in future funds. “You take out $10,000 and figure you could have had $100,000,” says Weston.