401k? Or pension?

i put in 9% and my company puts in 6%. im vested from day one

 

All depends on the pension fund.

My pension fund is broke for my union so I’m not counting on anything from that. But to make up for it my company puts money in a 401k for me and I can put in more if I want.

Just put in as much as you can afford, you won’t miss it if you never had it.

 

The big difference is that once you start the 401, you can't lose it. A pension can disappear years down the road with no recourse.

 

8 percent weekly contribution to a 401k is a good starting point .... Now a pension is an animal that can disappear either from company going Bankrupt/Being bought out/Restructuring/Downsizing YOU.... and poof it is GONE !

 

If you are young I would look into an IRA
Keeping a 401k also is not a bad idea. A good IRA will treat you better over 40 years. Both would be awesome

 

Roth ira

 

When I was discharged out of the Air Force in 1980 I was allowed to sell almost 40 days of leave back. As an E 5 that was for the time a good paycheck. I used that along with money put up during my 5 years and started a retirement account. I think I posted in here recently that I sometime wore a pair of shoes longer just because I was putting money up. In 2012 I (semi) retired with several Job offers to work in safety. Then I was diagnosed with Epilepsy lost my CDL and can no longer drive anything. I am living entirely off that retirement account. Because of the way it is structured I am actually taking from it less then it is making. I have totally abandoned Social Security. I will not be applying for it.

Some might say this subject has no place in this forum. Maybe so, however this is something every driver should be thinking about. This hearkens back to several comments I have made about not just looking at pay and cents per mile when thinking about a job offer. Look at the retirement policies. Do they 401K match and how much is this matching. It is 2018, at the risk of starting a political discourse on this. Social Security as we know it will not be here in another generation. If your under the age of 30 don't count on it for retirement. When the baby boomers finally all retire (about 1/2 now has) the ratio of people getting benefits to people paying in will be almost 1:1. There is NO money in the trust fund, no matter what you have been told. The Social Security Act allowed the US to invest money in securities backed by the federal government. These securities are worthless today and Social Security has been a budget item since the 60s. Bottom line take care of your own retirement!

 

4% with no vesting is not real good. If you are young and just starting out you should be pumping in between 10 to 12 %. Additionally find a company that will contribute to your 401k. If your in your twenties put like 80% in the C fund "high risk" and leave it alone. It will fluctuate with the market. As you grow older you shift it around to the safer funds. Good luck.

 

401k, 403b, Roth and all of those others can vanish because most of them are overly dependent on the stock market, which the first rule in "investing" in the stock market is don't put money in it that you can't afford to lose.

Pensions are going away, they are not protected and can vanish too.