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401k contributions?? What Percentage do you contribute?

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Originally posted by: djheater
Originally posted by: tnitsuj
So I guess my main problem is balancing cash on hand for down payment on house vs. large retirement fund. I am 24 though so that makes it a little less of a crunch.
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Agreed. 27 here.

Still I'll be withdraeing 1/2 for a downplayment and it pains me to no end. It's the best option at this point though.
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Likewise, 25 here and trying to get that downpayment ... too bad houses in this area are near the 400-500k range. sigh ... but I'm looking towards more first time home buyers break, which offers as low as 3% down.
 
2%, company matches about 3 to 1 (well its really profit sharing, last year they matched 3.1 to 1, year before it was 3.2 to 1, max is 2% with match, or up to like 5% but anything over 2% is not matched)
I also have about 8% going in to company Stock (I get it at a 10% discount)
 
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
My company matches (100%) upto 6%, so I put in 6%....I wish I could afford more.

amish
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Same here, our max is 15%, but i put in 6 and let the company match 6, I'm saving for a down payment on a house/condo
 
Originally posted by: tnitsuj
I currently contribute only 5%, but am considering bumping that up to 15%. None of that affects my empoyer contribution as they don't match, but instead make a fixed contribution to the account every year. Last year it was 11.% of my base salary.
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Up to the maximum allowed, which is now $11k annually.
 
6% (because they match that much) for 401k

and

10% for stock plan (up to $17k for my wedding next year - can't wait till it's over and I can actually use the returns)
 
Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw
If you're not living paycheck to paycheck, there's very little reason not to contribute the maximum amount allowable, particularly now. Investing in a depressed market is the best risk mitigator I can think of for a successful retirement.
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there are plenty of reasons not to invest in a 401K, including, most importantly, liquidity. You can't touch that money for a very ong time without penalties (except for eduction and a first home, I believe). If you put all your excess cash into a 401K and then have a short-term need for cash (perhaps due to an accident, being laid off, etc), you are screwed.

Also, what does investing in a "depressed" market have to do with mitigating risk?
 
Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw

Contributions to your retirement fund are "worth more" when you're young than later in life. This is due to the effects of compounding. It's also a risk management strategy, as investment losses now can be weathered far more easily than later in your career/life.
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I have to admit that I am confused again of where you are getting this risk mitigation from. The longer your money is invested, the more "risk" there is. This is just a property of statistics (unless you are measuring risk in some other fashion).

 
I max my contributions at 15% pre-tax with a 6% employer match. My employer also has an auxillary cash-value retirement plan which they contribute to, normally around 3-5%, however that doesn't vest until my 5th year of employment, one year hence.
 
I am 24 and contribute 20% of my salary (until, of course, I hit the max). My company contributes 5,000 regardless of what I put in (even if I don't contribute), so it's a pretty good deal. Does anyone know how the max contribution amounts work? I remember being able to max out at 10,500 in the past, but how does the company matching part play into this (does it at all)? Also, I think I will be in the "highly compensated" category (does this still exist?), so does anyone know how to determine what my max contribution will be (I am hoping that our plan sponser will take care of this, because I sure haven't been 🙂).
 
Originally posted by: spidey07
Hector,

All the answers to your questions can be answered by your company. It all varies.
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really? it's not regulated? I would have thought that my pre-tax dollars are capped, then whatever the company is contributing would be capped as well. Otherwise, what is to stop the company from paying you $20K less a year and instead contributing $20K to your 401K? Both of you would be better off...
 
My employer contributes the equivalent of 11.5% of my yearly salary to a 403b, regardless of what I put in. 😀 I put an additional 100/mo into a separate 403b account (had it before I was eligible for the company 403b).

Dave
 
My employer matches 1:4 as long as you put in 4%. Not the best, but hey, 1% is still free money. So, I put in 5% of my paycheck and they put in 1%, so my total each paycheck is 6%. I am 20% vested now, which means that I can take 20% of the money that they have contributed. I'll be 40% in about 2 months. Goes up 20% each year. I contribute 1% to the company stock (I purchase it at 15% off - pretty much a 15% immediate return should I sell - I should increase it.)
 

i contribute $12k a year, which was the max fed government allowed last year. my employer matches 6% of my salary, up to a certain maximum which i don't remember. employer also contributes to a cash-equivalent pension fund, which will be vested after 5 years of employment. i will probably max out 401k every year as Bush's graduated scale allows me to do so.



 
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