401K How Much?

[Hot dog]

Just wandering how much everyone puts in their 401k and what % of your income it is. Also, how long have you been doing so? Dare I ask how old everyone is? Just wandering if it is just the older people putting more in. I know I didn't really understand what is was when I started (23 yr old) and I just started with $20. I am now up to $100 every two weeks and I bring home a little over $800 after everything is taken out. I am 33. I thought I was doing OK but after reading here I am thinking people put much more in then that.

[PRICEPLUS]

Put in as much as you reasonably can afford. Compound interest works better with larger numbers!

[tinapbeana]

current company doesn't offer a 401k, but at my last employer i put in 5% b/c that is what my employer would match dollar to dollar. didn't matter if i was hourly CS or a salary trainer, i kept the % the same and never felt the money missing from my paycheck b/c i did it from day 1.

[creditcardfree]

My husband and I invest 15% of gross each year. We are 34 and 37 and have only been doing the 15% for the last 3 years. It was 10% prior to that beginning when my husband was 21.

[Hot dog]

I forgot that part. I was also wondering what everyone's employers match. I work for the state of Maryland and they match up to six hundred a year.

[BignRichfan]

My husband just received his enrollment paperwork for his companies 401k and it does'nt explain anything? It lists 10 companies you can invest a % in up to 100% so I guess i'll have to look into them and he heard the company matches but they never told him how much. Im thinking we might invest 10% of each paycheck. Also they included a benificiary paper in with his paperwork for the 401k. Did you all have this to? It says to consult with your tax preparer before filling that out?

[safari]

I am 31 and contributing 8% to 401(k), which is the maximum my company allows, since I am considered highly-compensated. The employer matches 66.6% up to 6%. I started contributing this year and now have over $12K in my 401(k) account. Wish I started contributing 7 years ago, but I was young and stupid.

[threebeansalad]

I was in the working world for about 3 years before coming to grad school (where I'm 2.5 years in).

For the first 1.5 years of my working life. I had a a 401(k) I did 10% of my pre-tax income.. my employer matched 3% but I didn't stay long enough to for it to vest. I did that for ~1.5 years, then I moved to a different job with no retirement benefits and but a better salary. Like a dummy, I never sought out an IRA on my own or other retirement investments and just stashed the money in my checking account (stupid stupid!!) and probably spend a good deal of the increased income on my wedding etc... but I don't know because I was a BAD record keeper.

So, it's been about 4 years since I put any money in any investments (I'm 28.. almost 29). I'm trying to be wiser now and will max out a Roth for 2006 and plan to contribute 10% of my measely earnings in 2007 to a Roth, but that won't bring me to $4000. The only reason I can max out for 2006 is that in the time while I wasn't investing I wasn't being a total spendthrift, either.

How I wish I could turn back the hands of the clock!! All I can do is be wiser when I'm out of school and have a real income again.

[kv968]

I'm currently putting in 7% of my salary pre-tax. Not much, but all I can afford right now while trying to max out my Roth. The company matches 75% of the first 6%. I've been doing it since I started thanks to one of the "old-timers" beating me over the head to do so. If it wasn't for him, there wouldn't be much saved in the old retirement fund so now I'm trying to pay it back by pestering the newer hires to sign up and start investing. I'm also trying to get some of the "more seasoned" workers to diversify their holdings. WAY too many of them hold WAY too much in company stock. Me included until I really started learning about all of this stuff. Diversify, diversify, diversify!!!

[Broken Arrow]

I think some of you have a very good idea of what I am working with, so suffice to say, I'm my very best to take advantage of mine as possible.

I am also glad that my 401k is handled by an independant firm that is separate from my employer. And none of it involves company stock because I believe my employer is still private. But yeah, I agree that one shouldn't bet too much on any one individual stock, especially a small-cap that also writes your paycheck!

Anyways, mine has unlimited (or 100%) matching, but they match only $0.28 to the dollar. Despite the fairly low match, I have to hand it to them though. Overall, they've set up an excellent program.

[kv968]

You shouldn't bet too much on a large cap stock either as my company is a very large cap company.

[Daylily]

I put in 8% of salary, company puts in 4% of my salary.
I've been contributing for 8 years.

[Fizgig]

I'm 29, and started my 401k when I had just turned 24. I opened the 401k the second I started the job, and have always contributed 8%. My company matches 60% of the first 8% you contribute.

I intend to keep the contributions at 8% and open up a Roth this year. I'm not sure if I'll get the full $5000/year max contribution in 2007, but I'll try.

[Gruntina]

Unfortunately I started late!

At age 27, I started contributing to my company's 401k program. Its EDA engineering corporate that offers a lot of selections for the employees (I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing?). The company provides a matching of .40 to each dollar until their max contribution is $1500 per year. I would have to at least fund $330 dollars per month to reach that full matching.

[tinapbeana]

i got lucky w/ my 401k (until i got laid off, otherwise it would have been even better!). dollar to dollar match up to 5%, and since i got a 5% shift differential the bulk of the time i was there it was almost like a 10% raise with no effort, all in my 401k. the program was managed by merrill lynch, who i had great experiences with.

had i not been laid off by the company that bought us out, they would have matched dollar for dollar up to 6% and then an additional 50 cents on the dollar if you met performance goals for a total %9 employer contribution and 6% employee. WAH!!!

DH is getting hosed, though. his company matches 50 cents on the dollar IN COMPANY STOCK. and it's a newspaper, so their stock has been going down for the past 3 years or so tradition is to sell the stock once a month and invest the money in the other funds available.

[ren]

My company matches two-thirds of my contribution up to 6%, so that's what I put in.

[PRICEPLUS]

Well Hotdog, how much will it be?

[bjl584]

I am currently putting in 6%. My company matches dollar for dollar up to 3%. I started contributing in the summer of 2003. There is currently just over $17K in there, and I'm 28.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

DH does 17% to max out his 401k. He started 12/2005 at his new job fresh out of grad school and we have $23k in there with match and returns currently as of today.

Goal is to max out $15.5k this year.

[Aleta]

I think that you're going great. As time goes on and you see your money growing, you will want to contribute more.