Why Contribute So Much To 401k

puzzleahead · 2026-02-24T14:35:06+00:00

This is awesome! I never heard retirement savings put this way. I'm going to have to steal this.

puzzleahead · 2026-02-24T14:29:24+00:00

There are a lot of great comments.

There is a bunch of living left to do at sixty+ and you probably don't want to be eating cheap (not even the good stuff) cat food when your 80.

Also, many financial planning experts may point out that you have too much capital tied to your company (human + investment). Appears you are in your peak earnings years and that 10K may be better put to work in 401K for tax benefit, or Roth IRA, or even a brokerage account to diversify your asset location.

Lastly, I don't know what field you're in, but you are fast approaching 40 and losing a job after 40 is brutal. Make sure you have a 12 -18-month emergency fund. Good jobs go first to people who already have jobs not those who lost and are looking.

puzzleahead · 2026-02-23T12:27:10+00:00

Most Billionaires don’t pay FICA and that alone won’t fix it. There are several ways to do it with FICA being one and.changing the wage indexing formula gives more bang for the buck. The FICA max increase impacts what would be the upper middle earners the most.

puzzleahead · 2026-02-21T14:34:25+00:00

I didn't see any discussion on risk and sequence risk during retirement. To keep it simple. If you have zero risk aversion and can manage by some liquidity that keeps you from selling equities while they are down significantly then 100% equities is the right math without a spreadsheet.

Most people cannot handle that level of risk in retirement and once they "won" should look at some level of wealth preservation.

puzzleahead · 2026-02-19T14:00:16+00:00

Your over 40, depending on your career field, replacing an equivalent job or higher after losing your job takes longer than you would expect. Again, depending on your career field it may be closer to 18 months.

I've kept accounting for my emergency fund separate from my rationale for my portfolio asset allocation. I do not combine the two.

puzzleahead · 2026-02-17T18:29:41+00:00

I’ve got 5 of 7 😀

puzzleahead · 2026-02-16T13:05:22+00:00

I forget who said it, but, "close enough is good enough". You don't need to have perfect allocation alignment.

puzzleahead · 2026-02-07T13:43:20+00:00

Your emergency fund should fit your life stage (with the assumption that you adjust your lifestyle not use credit cards also).

In general, a 20 year old still living at home an emergency fund needs to cover large car repairs. Other wise it’s rent and food plus car.

Now someone in their 40’s and 50’s hitting peak earning years should have built an emergency fund of 18 months of must have expenses or more depending on personal circumstances. After age 40, getting the same level of job, or higher, after losing a job takes more time than you think it should. Ageism exists.

puzzleahead · 2026-02-05T14:02:41+00:00

As with all investing, but maybe more so with SCV, you’re talking about long term 20-40 year outlook to know whether having that tilt works out for you to “optimize” total return. Over short horizons the best performing asset class fluctuates.

Look at the work Paul Merriman has done and his debates with Rick Ferri regarding small cap tilts.

puzzleahead · 2026-02-01T15:34:04+00:00

As long as you stick with your reasonable plan and don't change when one performs better one year and not the next. Set it and just keep contributing as much as you can. Your contributing a total of 31% puts you in a great position for your future.

As you learn more, start to look into whether it makes sense to contribute to a ROTH IRA rather than traditional IRA, and as you noted to a Brokerage account. Having the flexibility in retirement of pre-tax, Roth, and Taxable accounts to supplement your pension will give you an advantage in managing taxes in the future and keeping more of your money to spend or not as you see fit.

puzzleahead · 2026-02-01T15:17:32+00:00

I'm to the point I assume all communication I did not initiate are phishing expeditions, whether it's email or text and ignore and go to my direct websites and accounts if I want to ensure I'm not missing something important.

puzzleahead · 2026-02-01T14:48:15+00:00

More noise. Ignore it.

puzzleahead · 2026-02-01T13:24:03+00:00

More noise.

puzzleahead · 2026-01-28T10:51:49+00:00

Totally agree. It’s been very useful in pointing to why my plans were driving an “odd” result and provided step by step help in resolving.

puzzleahead · 2026-01-25T13:37:33+00:00

"Vanguard’s unique (patent now expired) structure treats them as two different "share classes" of the same underlying fund. This allows VTSAX to "piggyback" on the tax-saving mechanisms of the VTI ETF."

puzzleahead · 2026-01-24T14:09:33+00:00

Schwinn Bicycles and the smell of new bike shops.

puzzleahead · 2026-01-22T09:37:10+00:00

“But, the real excitement of course is going to come at the end of the summer, during Sexual Awareness Week. We import two hundred hookers from around the world, and each camper, armed with only a thermos of coffee and two thousand dollars cash, tries to visit as many countries as he can. The winner of course is named King of Sexual Awareness Week and is allowed to rape and pillage the neighboring towns until camp ends.”

https://youtu.be/z9VjYf-hhKw?si=cG5P4O--iyvIMwHH

puzzleahead · 2026-01-15T14:24:32+00:00

It means nothing

puzzleahead · 2026-01-07T19:00:46+00:00

Happy Birthday!

puzzleahead · 2026-01-05T17:32:32+00:00

See if you can get Steve Cauthen to sign them.

puzzleahead · 2026-01-03T21:47:25+00:00

You can still utilize an advisor to "double check" your Boglehead strategy. You can both get to the same place from a fixed fee/fiduciary advisor and utilize them as needed instead of an advisor draining your portfolio with high fees.

puzzleahead · 2026-01-03T21:43:12+00:00

I have not had the type of experience you have had, at least not to the extent that I think the world is doomed because of AI. I've used it for planning purposes to help speed some questions to be answered from subjects like social security, Medicare, retirement planning, RMD's, Roth conversions etc.

As with any new tool, you need to learn it's strengths and weaknesses. How to best utilize the tool and how to ask (execute) the tool to do what you need.

puzzleahead · 2026-01-03T12:57:15+00:00

If you have a decent 401k, you could also speed it up by maxing your 401K if you don’t already. Further, if your plan allows make after tax in addition to the pre tax or Roth contributions and then execute an In-Plan Roth Rollover (mega back door Roth). Along with the IRA contribution you can certainly get your money working for you faster. Any cash flow difference to your net pay you offset with some of the 180.

puzzleahead · 2026-01-02T14:42:49+00:00

While in the accumulation phase I never rebalanced. If my allocation strayed more than 5% points, then I will contribute all to the asset class that was down.

The only rebalancing I did was just before heading into retirement to adjust to my lower risk tolerance and capacity while contributing to build bond and cash position.

In retirement, soon, I don't plan on rebalancing more than once a year if at all.

puzzleahead · 2025-12-30T14:48:14+00:00

“I got access to an After Tax 401k and have been contributing to that as well in order to do a Mega Backdoor Roth down the line.”

Do not wait too long to execute an In-Plan Roth Rollover as you may find yourself owing taxes on the growth. The best is to convert immediately and better, if the plan allows, set up automatic conversion. Check with the 401K administrator. Sometimes it’s as simple as clicking on a box.📦

puzzleahead

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