Mine used to and i missed out on some match when I maxed it out usually in the fall. NOW though they give you difference in a lump sum the following January. They match 100% up to 5%

I do 15% then max out the HSA also for the triple tax advantage. its invested in index funds.

What we don’t know is how much you make a year. If you make $100,000 then the company match is an additional $375 per month. At 10% rate of return:
5yr $223,598
10 yr $609,788
13 yr $916,114
15 yr $1,177,523
I would go company match, Roth ira, Roth 401k (if available), 401k and brokerage account.
None of the gain of Roth money is taxed, you can also tap into Roth contributions (not gains though) tax free before 59.5 if you need cash to get you through to 65.

Make $28.and change, I'm at 82k for the year now. Guessing I will hit around 110,000. Going to cut back working days off and I have 3 weeks of vacation so no overtime there. It's hunting and traping seasion after all.

We have been converting deferred to Roth since the tax rates dropped and will do so the next 3 years as well. We don't know if rates will rise or not then. We don't have the amounts that many of you are discussing above, so we can stay under the AGI that causes one to lose several options. We are also using QEOs to lower AGI and by watching closely we can keep capital gain income tax at 0-5%.

Bryce

how old are you. Don't think anyone mentioned the "catch up " clause. If you are over 50 you can put up to 73,500 beginning in 2023. So you can exceed the limit of 22,500 .
But if I had 77,000 laying around it would go into a 5.25% CD not crap shoot 401K

Interesting. read for sure. BUT on the matter of taxes. At what point does the taxes take any gains if the money was put in years back. VS taking it in a paycheck at much lower tax bracket. THEN using it some way else than letting people get rich using your money ?

I'm 43. I have a higher risk tolerance and prefer higher returns becuse I have less money. Sure if I had a million laying around the 50k at 5% I would make sounds OK. If I only have 20k I'm willing to take more chances to make the historical 10% the market averages and likely more with smart picks. I also have 13 to 20 years before I retire so also have time on my side.
Now for my emergency fund ladder cds would be a good option or if I were closer to retirement and could not wait for the market to rebound when it drops.

Right now I'm looking forward to the big drop I think is coming. Then I can buy buy buy while it's on sale.

X2 White17. My 2 cents. Is to get started investing. Concentrate on what you can afford to risk. Remember investing is not a sure thing. But overtime it is better then not investing.

Time in the market beats trying to time the market. Most of mines is in SP500 and whole market very low cost index funds

https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/vti

https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/mutual-funds/profile/vtsax

up 17+% this year and 51% over 5 yr period

I don't do individual stocks

What tax bracket are you in now and will be why your working? Will it be similar or higher or lower when you retire? If you feel the two will be the same, then investing in ROTHs makes more sense if putting in the market or a retirement account. Managed funds have higher costs and fees but when stocks in the fund are bought and sold capital gains distribution taxes are paid by you, so at the time of cashing in ones basis can be much higher. Low cost non managed funds may have higher capital gains at the time of redeeming as there is less transfer during the life of the fund for you. So the lower fees and costs may, but need to cover the increased taxes one may pay when redeeming. When AGI remains lower and capital gains are lower capital gains tax rates currently are very, very low. The fact that capital gains are taxed at from 0 to 15% instead of 12, 22 etc. like interest is, does allow one to invest higher in variable funds from my perspective. The nice thing about Roth say is I need to buy a different home or condo later in life. The cost above the sale of our modest home is $125. I can cash in ROTHs and pay no taxes or they can be inherited by family at no cost either. If I had to cash in 125K of taxable funds to buy the house even at 78 years old or so I would get a loan for a lot of that instead of paying out a large percentage of my savings in taxes.

Bryce

Definitely sounds like I need to look into a roth. I may be better maxing out a roth and putting less in the 401 and long as I keep at lest the full match amount.

If you’re in a position to, max everything you can! That way you’ve got options when the time comes. At a minimum, you need to take advantage of any employer match on the retirement plan they offer. Also start a Roth if you don’t have one already. Don’t forget about the back door option on the Roth if your AGI is too high for a normal contribution. Don’t forget the HSA if you’re in a high deductible plan... this money can also be invested pretax to grow. After that, I put anything extra in CD’s. I built a ladder so it’s not all tied up at once.

Not often I agree with Jbyrd, but catch-up provision is also good if you’re 50+. Many different savings tools gives you more options later.

When you finally pull the pin, time it so you have minimal taxable income in the year you retire …aka time it so it goes into pretax savings. That gives you even more options.

here is another resource you might check out. I find these guys to be knowledgeable and offering sound advice as to what order to do things related to money

https://knowledge.moneyguy.com/knowledge/what-is-the-financial-order-of-operations-foo

Best advice I've seen on Trapperman. Very few understand or have even heard of the rule of 72's.

Also the 4% rule.

No. The trick is to start planning an exit strategy 10 or more years before retirement, not 1 year before. The future is always in motion and things change, but you can still plan and that can get you through things.
Fail to plan, plan to fail....

Albert Einstein said that "compound interest was the eighth wonder of the world". He who understands it, earns it, he who dosen't, pays it.

But if you dump money in hand to catch up, isn't that money ultimately gna ba taxed twice?