Please explain 401k?

It's like free money. Also, no penalty if you are 59 1/2. Just make sure to invest wisely. Company match is sometimes in company stock. You will never miss the money you never see. Bob gave some good answers for a farmer.

 

I can tell you that you are in a very good position if you can save 2000 cash a month on top of whatever little you put into 401k. That's going be about 24000 cash in your direct name account at the checking or savings in the bank.

Here is another problem.

If you walk into your local bank and asked for that 24000, they will have forms for you to sign because you are exceeding the 10,000 dollar limit at which the banking staff must report this attempt to Uncle Sam in real time. You probably will be asked questions as to why you need all this money, If you said you were buying a house or a truck or something major that's one thing. It will be reported to Uncle Sam. There is a financial side to the war on terror since 9-11 which tracks people who do certain things with money and banking.

If you worked 5 years and now have 125000 saved you literally would be in a situation where you can buy a home and some land at 200-300 thousand dollars in another 5 years. 10 years is nothing. Poof. You may not feel like it now but that's ok.

If you worked 30 at this rate you are going to be somewhere close to a million. Roughly, give or take a couple hundred thousand. They say it's a small fortune. It is a good place to be. But you cannot be advertising that. You will have people come out of the woodwork trying to get their fingers into that pot...

That is another issue marriage. When you marry someone, that person becomes two in one with you, owning half of all assets you own, including the saved money. I would be very cautious on marriage. That ideal spouse would have money of her own equal to yours. Mine was very good and continues to be. Going from debt free to being a homeowner and several vehicles plus land, bills and so on with two simple words "I do" once upon a time in my life. And I was still trucking then.

But for you right now, having nothing to worry about in no bills etc. This is absolutely the time to set aside every single dollar you do not EAT or frolic and carouse in fun against a future in which you will see a chance to literally say... this is where I would like to have a home somewhere in a favorite part of the USA and writing a check to make it happen. BOOM. done. That's one of the rewards of a life well worked.

When you need money, you smile at the bank. When you have money, the bank smiles at you.

 

Even if its not decent it's still better than nothing. Just dont contribute your money and forget about it. Make it a habit to log in and check its performance.

If You are VERY interested in finances like I am, you can have multiple accounts. I like Roth IRA, and I have a seoarate brokerage account that I contribute to monthly, and I buy shares in companies I think are likely to do well. Whats nice about that option is you can sell and transfer back to your checking if you ever found yourself in a pinch. Imagine that account in 10 years with a few Amazon shares under its belt.

And yeah no vesting means your employer contributions are non-forfitable. Like a vesting period of 3 years means you are given contributions to your 401k but if you quit before 3 years it goes bye-bye.

 

um...no, you only get to keep your monies......not thier contributions

 

Free money is a bargain as ling as their 401k plan doesn't force you to buy company stock. Those plans mean if the company fails you lose your job & investment.

Look for investment options indide rhe company plan in things like "Total stock market index" or "S&P 500", or similar options. You can also pick "target retirement funds". These will have a date like 2045 or something else. My preference are the first two I mentioned since expenses are USUALLY quite low compared to other choices.

Also the money you & company invest is NOT taxed until you withdraw it. That's a big deal.

 

I would at least put in enough to collect the max company match . It is money ment for you , why leave it sitting on the table ?

 

I invested in a Chinese entertainment company. They are involved in music, search engines, computer games, and taking Western games and tweaking them so chinese Gov approves it for sale.

"All your base are belong to us. For great justice!"

 

Gaming, animation, etc. is big in China. They built a huge industrial park and that's all they do there. A few months ago they were recruiting worldwide for people to work there. I've forgotten which city they built it in, maybe Shanghai or Shenzhen. A single man, gamer would think he died and went to heaven.

 

Save your money and buy rental property.