How should I invest? 401k, ira, then etfs?

[JWhite]

I am trying to figure out best order of how to invest to maximize tax savings and available investment dollars. 36 years old, unmarried, no kids yet. (I plan to get married in the next 2 years and have a kid in the next 3-4 years)
I make 200k gross, no debt now except mortgage which I owe 320k and home is worth 440k at 5.75%, 20 years left. My yearly expenses are around 60k and I am able to save 100k a year. I already have my Emergency Fund of 100k. My 401k has 200k (this is a regular 401k, roth 401k is not avail at work)

Should I max my 401k to reduce my taxable income
Then contribute to a traditional IRA
Then dollar cost average remainder monthly savings into a diverse group of ETFs?
Should I take a portion of my savings and start paying off mortgage and then refi eventually? I know my mortgage rate is high but I could not previously refi because I had a heloc and was underwater but now the heloc is gone and I have some equity.

I have a backdoor roth conversion with only 1k in it. I cannot contribute to that anymore given my income and the income limits, right?

[cardtrick]

How old are you? Are you married? Have kids?

The whole point of the backdoor is so you can get around income limits. You can absolutely max out Roth IRA using the backdoor method.

Here's what I would do:

1. Max out 401K, half in regular and half in Roth 401K if available. I think of this as tax diversification. The Roth IRA limits are too low.

2. Contribute to Roth IRA using the backdoor method for both 2013 and 2014. Make sure you read up on how exactly to do this and if there are any implications of using the backdoor in 2014, for a 2013 contribution.

3. EF of 100K is too high. I would cut that down to 30K, which is 6 months of expenses. Invest half of the remaining in taxable accounts and pay a part of the mortgage off.

4. Continue doing a 50-50 split of savings towards mortgage and taxable investments.

Or, just max out your retirement savings and focus on paying off the mortgage. You could probably get that done in about 4 years. If your rate were closer to 3.5%, I would tell you to absolutely not pay it off early...