Current Events > Do you have a 401k?

(+) Yeah! (+)

If yes, how much do you put in it?
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currently $130 a paycheck but I have about $26k with employer money

john hancock is bad news
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Yes, and I just started to max it out this year. This is my third year having it, and I put in at least enough to get all my employer matching funds each year.
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i max it each year
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yea did have 2 of them but my last job cashed me out of mine but i was only there like 6 weeks. the check was for like $600 tho. then the job before it i was putting in like 10-15% a check and had that for like 3 years. job i'm at now i don't have one yet but will have a roth IRA soon. probably just max it out from the start.

Yes, as of a few months ago. I put in 5% and my employer matches 4%.
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I just pay what they match up to
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Yes, I do 9% pretax 9% posttax, 6% employer match, Roth IRA, and 6% pension.
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Balrog0 posted...

I just pay what they match up to

Same. I do 6 percent, employer adds 3 percent which is the max.
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Thanks for the answers, everyone. Really helps out. Just started working and new to all this.
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3% however much that is. I should probably look. Been doing it for years now
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SSJBartSimp posted...

Yes, I do 9% pretax 9% posttax, 6% employer match, Roth IRA, and 6% pension.

I have a pretax and post tax 401k as well, I'm wondering should I bother putting any towards my pretax? all of my contributions have been toward roth 401k and then my employer gives some profit sharing

I max out my roth ira every year and also get minor cash balance credits
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GoriIIa posted...

Thanks for the answers, everyone. Really helps out. Just started working and new to all this.

for pretax contribs, you really want to look at how what federal income tax will be to determine how much to dedicate to ROTH 401ks/IRAs versus traditional IRAs/pretax 401ks

i can help because i just finished a work task

what is your annual salary at this job, housing situation, and martial status
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I have no fucking idea what you're talking about and voted anyway. Vote or die - p diddy.
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Asherlee10 posted...

Yes, I have a 401k and a Roth IRA.

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GoriIIa posted...

Just started working and new to all this.

Shove in whatever your company matches. Free money is amazing down the road.

401k notably is also pre-tax income, so if your annual paycheck is 50k and you put in 10% to the 401k, you're only taxed at 45k.

You then get taxed later at retirement (or whenever you withdraw from the account), but it's net less taxes.
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I contribute 8% (5% traditional, 3% Roth) of each paycheck and increasing it by 1% at the end of every year up to 15%. Employer contributes a flat 3% as I've already maxed out the matching program.
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philsov posted...

GoriIIa posted...

Just started working and new to all this.

Shove in whatever your company matches. Free money is amazing down the road.

401k notably is also pre-tax income, so if your annual paycheck is 50k and you put in 10% to the 401k, you're only taxed at 45k.

You then get taxed later at retirement (or whenever you withdraw from the account), but it's net less taxes.

Ah I see. And to max out is $5000/yr?
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GoriIIa posted...

Ah I see. And to max out is $5000/yr?

roth ira max is 5500/year

401k, pretax or roth, is 18000/year not counting employer match
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GoriIIa posted...

philsov posted...

GoriIIa posted...

Just started working and new to all this.

Shove in whatever your company matches. Free money is amazing down the road.

401k notably is also pre-tax income, so if your annual paycheck is 50k and you put in 10% to the 401k, you're only taxed at 45k.

You then get taxed later at retirement (or whenever you withdraw from the account), but it's net less taxes.

Ah I see. And to max out is $5000/yr?

I think 401k's cap out at like 17K a year.

You should be maxing it out and buying diversified index funds with low expense fees.

Look up the three fund portfolio, aka lazy fund portfolio.

drunkmuggle posted...

john hancock is bad news

I did some math recently and even with a 1% expense fee and not including employer matching, your 401k is still leagues better than a taxable brokerage account.

Darkman124 posted...

401k, pretax or roth, is 18000/year not counting employer match

unless you're over 50! then you get another 5500 I think?
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Balrog0 posted...

unless you're over 50! then you get another 5500 I think?

yeah i figured nobody except bluezero qualifies for that though
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Darkman124 posted...

GoriIIa posted...

Ah I see. And to max out is $5000/yr?

roth ira max is 5500/year

401k, pretax or roth, is 18000/year not counting employer match

Oh, holy moly. So people are putting out a whole $700-$800 per (I'm assuming) biweekly paycheck?
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GoriIIa posted...

Oh, holy moly. So people are putting out a whole $700-$800 per (I'm assuming) biweekly paycheck?

some people yeah. it is helpful if your income is deep in the 25% federal income tax bracket

if not, ROTH contribs, 401k or otherwise, are better.
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Yes, I have had a 401k since the very first day I could start one. I put in 6% and once a year my employer puts in a % of profit sharing.
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500 a paycheck, so 1k monthly. Plus the amount I get from company matching.
I'd max it but I'm trying to save for some other stuff
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Darkman124 posted...

GoriIIa posted...

Oh, holy moly. So people are putting out a whole $700-$800 per (I'm assuming) biweekly paycheck?

some people yeah. it is helpful if your income is deep in the 25% federal income tax bracket

if not, ROTH contribs, 401k or otherwise, are better.

Ah, how come it's helpful in that tax bracket? (I'm in it and itms a pretty big range?)

Thanks a lot everyone! I have so much to ask haha.

I appreciate the references, will definitely be looking into them. Right now Fidelity has their own plan for investing my money; the representative described it as "very aggressive to start off but toward retirement it will become very conservative".
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Dagger32 posted...

Yes, I have had a 401k since the very first day I could start one. I put in 6% and once a year my employer puts in a % of profit sharing.

wow sounds like me

clearaflagrantj posted...

drunkmuggle posted...
john hancock is bad news

I did some math recently and even with a 1% expense fee and not including employer matching, your 401k is still leagues better than a taxable brokerage account.

really now

the shit they offer is pretty bad though, I need to find a better rebalancing cuz it's doing way worse than my other investments
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15% of my paycheck goes into 401k
10% of my paycheck goes into investments
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drunkmuggle posted...

Dagger32 posted...

Yes, I have had a 401k since the very first day I could start one. I put in 6% and once a year my employer puts in a % of profit sharing.

wow sounds like me

clearaflagrantj posted...

drunkmuggle posted...
john hancock is bad news

I did some math recently and even with a 1% expense fee and not including employer matching, your 401k is still leagues better than a taxable brokerage account.

really now

the shit they offer is pretty bad though, I need to find a better rebalancing cuz it's doing way worse than my other investments

Crap. Where do you work?

Don't tell the boss I am on GameFaqs. I am using my own network via my phone...
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GoriIIa posted...

Ah, how come it's helpful in that tax bracket? (I'm in it and itms a pretty big range?)

basically because you're avoiding paying taxes at a fairly high federal income tax rate on the income you defer there

later when you draw down from it youll be in a combination of the 0% and 15% rate brackets

OTOH, if you were all in the 15% bracket you'd not actually be saving too much by deferring taxes
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Dagger32 posted...

drunkmuggle posted...

Dagger32 posted...

Yes, I have had a 401k since the very first day I could start one. I put in 6% and once a year my employer puts in a % of profit sharing.

wow sounds like me

clearaflagrantj posted...

drunkmuggle posted...
john hancock is bad news

I did some math recently and even with a 1% expense fee and not including employer matching, your 401k is still leagues better than a taxable brokerage account.

really now

the shit they offer is pretty bad though, I need to find a better rebalancing cuz it's doing way worse than my other investments

Crap. Where do you work?

Don't tell the boss I am on GameFaqs. I am using my own network via my phone...

lol I use my pc to browse gamefaqs cuz no one checks the history

but in north nj
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yes, I max contributions, I have a traditional and roth 401k option through work. Roth option started about 2 years ago and started doing ROTH for my contributions.
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KILBOTz posted...

yes, I max contributions, I have a traditional and roth 401k option through work. Roth option started about 2 years ago and started doing ROTH for my contributions.

do you use any metrics in determining whether traditional 401k or roth are a better call?

if the entire income falls into the 28% tax bracket the effective tax savings seem to be approximately identical when you account for opportunity cost

even at 25% i find it hard to be motivated to take the hit to my ability to contribute to after-tax CMA by expanding roth contribs for a net 5% tax savings
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I don't. I tried doing some myself at one point but with rental income and other income streams I got lost and figured whatever. I also work under the assumption that taxes across the board will go up by the time I can retire. It's a mix of 28% and 25% bracket, I manage to take tons of deductions but not enough to get me firmly in the 25% bracket.
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i guess that is one way to look at it. our taxes are pretty shockingly low at present.
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I don't have a job so :/
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Yes. I contribute just enough to get the maximum match from my employer. No Roth IRA, but most of my after-tax income goes immediately into stocks.
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I do 6% because that's what my employer matches.
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Yeah, I've had one for a couple of years. 4% of gross goes in, my company matches that. I've got around 10k in it right now.
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spincr posted...

I have no fucking idea what you're talking about and voted anyway. Vote or die - p diddy.

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