Quick question PF-friends:
Originally, I was contributing 4% to my 401k, as my employer matches 160% on the first 4% that I contribute. When I heard about my new salary, I was so excited that I immediately bumped my contributions up to 10%. But now I’m wondering if I shouldn’t kick that back down to 4% until I finish paying off my credit cards. Additionally, my company requires 5 years of service before you vest, a mark that I doubt I’m going to hit, so I sometimes wonder if I wouldn’t be better off just investing the bulk of my retirement savings elsewhere (I do plan to open a Roth IRA next year).
I’m learning toward scaling it back to 4-5%. Thoughts?
4 Comments
October 26, 2007 at 3:04 pm
How much difference we talking about here?
You gotta take into account that you are taking home way more than you did previously. So bumping your contribution to 10% on a salary where you are making 57% more than before may not be that much of a difference. You will still bring in more money than you did last month therefore allowing you to put towards your debt.
So do an analysis. The income you brought in last month vs the new income (including 10% 401K contribution) and see what the difference will be. Then make your decision from there. Also remember you will be moving soon and your monthly expenses will be decreasing. So that means more money to go towards your debt.
October 26, 2007 at 5:03 pm
First of all, never go below the company match, so 4% should be the absolute minimum that you should ever drop to.
Aside from that, it depends on your credit card APR and your expected investment earnings, but in general you will almost always end up saving money if you pay off credit card debt instead of saving or investing money long term.
My advice would be to do the following:
1. Drop the 401k contributions to the company match.
2. Put as much money as possible into your credit card debt. The best long term savings you can get is by eliminating your long term interest payments.
3. Stay on a budget and always maintain an “emergency fund” for unexpected expenses. This will keep you from going furthur into debt if you run into problems.
4. Open a Roth IRA. You have more investment options in an IRA than your 401k, and you can withdraw your contributions at any time without any penalty (unlike your 401k). I don’t suggest that you actually plan to take money out of your Roth IRA, but you can use it as a “last resort” add-on to your emergency fund.
5. When you do pay off your high-interest debt, max out your Roth IRA and bump up the 4% 401k contribution to whatever you can affortd.
October 26, 2007 at 7:42 pm
I’m a big fan of getting rid of debt, so I think the previous poster has good points.
November 16, 2007 at 3:22 pm
[...] Thanks to the advice given here also. [...]