jts1207

5%-10% even 15%?............my cheap ass company hardly matches anything. Also I am 28, what type of funds should i put it in? Very agressive or less? Thanks

Eggplant-EX

I max it at 15%. Just have to make sure I live long enough to see the money....

But man, does it grow. At your age, no offense, you need to max it. I started out late and often wonder how much more I would have had I started earlier....

ChodTheWacko

You should max out, imho. and go aggressive.

Since you are young, you might consider maxing out a ROTH before you max out your 401k. Put enough in your 401k to get the match, then max out ROTH, then max out 401k (15% or $13K whatever is less).

Scrib

MAX the 401K before anything else. Regardless of match.

You're young, so you should be more agressive. Does your employer give you a list of funds to pick from?

chef chris

Yeah...max it. Don't wait on your retirement to grow, make it happen while you have some control over it.

And don't forget the IRA's too...SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!!!

CCns24

Max it out. I put away 10% and my company matches the first 6% in company stock (which is fine by me). At your age (which is the same as mine) you should be in nothing but aggressive growth funds.

I did a retirement calculation the other day and if stay with the same company and contribute the same amount until I am 65, I will retire with approx $7.5 mil.


Just go to a retirement website and find a retirement calculator. You tell it what you want to retire with, and it will tell you how much you need to contribute in order to achieve that goal.

chef chris

On a side note(and I'll post the whole artlicle later on it's own) Money magazine this month states that Social Security will be dried up by 2042.

Basically, the retiring Baby Boomers will suck it dry.

MikeyB_TLS

I agree w/ general setiment.. as much as possible. you can contribute up to 12 or 13g of your OWN money before company match... i think the upper limit is in the 40s with matching .not sure since I don't come close to it... however, the more you put away the greater the long term benefit....it also keeps your current tax bracket lower as it is not considered income!!!!

uu

yeah, me, I always maxed out my 401K since I was 25, it was 15%, I think now the cap is 20% or $15K, so I have 20%. In a way it is good because towards the end of the year, when the $15K was hit, I get more money on my paycheck... hahahha...

mantis23

Do your maximum.

I'm at max 13%, plus 8% company match.

amisconception

max.

dfreder371

Ditto.

What you really need to understand is inflation. How much was a gallon of gas when you started to drive? How much is it now?

Although your 401(k) contributions now will appear paltry later on in life (your salary should at least double or triple from age 24, if you're worth anything.) Those early dollars will grow to the max, and you should thank time and the compounding of money which is invested to thank for it.

I was barely getting by when I caught on with my current gig, 15 years old now. Everytime I got a raise (usually 5% or so), I just poured it into the 401(k). Heck, it wasn't like I couldn't pay the bills, until it maxed out at 15%.

Net result: I have $125,000 put away, and protected. I will now move fron agressive to cap. preservation. Hey! I'm 52.

I'm figuring that I should have $1,000,000 saved by retirement, and at 4%, 40,000$ of income per year.

I should be able to live on that.

Red-CL

10% = me
10% = Company

95gt

That is a crazy match. Damn.

Max it to the company match but then put the rest in a roth IRA. Many advantages to a roth.

1 You are not taxed on what is taken out at the end (this is huge if you have huge gains).

2. Much more flexibility on what you can invest in

3. You can take out what you have put in with no penalty at any time (this is not true of 401k). What this means if you put in 3k a year and next year you need some money you can take that 3k out. Any money that the IRA has made has to stay into the Roth until age 59.5 put the principle is yours for the taking. This is a great thing

Cliffnotes: Max out till you hit company match (hey its free money they are giving you) but over that put it in a roth or other IRA.

GreenMonster

I'm 37, and just got into the 401K a couple of years ago. I had started a Roth IRA in my early 30's (no 401K back then).

I'm up to 10%, and I'll probably increase it to the max after my review/raise this year. My company doesn't match much, but it's money for nothing

I've got mine split between very aggressive and agressive. I've still got a ways to go till retirement, so I can take the increased risk now.

Still dropping the max per year into the Roth IRA.