401K and retirement questions?

401K and retirement questions?
I talked to a personal advisor recently and he got me thinking about retirement. Although I am 23 years from retirement, he says I should be thinking about it if I want to have enough to actually enjoy life instead of living paycheck to paycheck. So, here are my questions to you all: How much do you contribute to your 401K per month? Does your company match? How much? Is your 401K your means of retirement? If not, what other savings do you have? I started adding to 401K 5 years ago, but didn't contribute much for the first couple of years. I am up to 10% now and employer matching 5%. I started adding to 401K 5 years ago, but didn't contribute much for the first couple of years. I am up to 10% now and employer matching 5%.


Answers:

anonimitie:  10% Yes, the first 3% My 401k is part of my retirement. I also have a Roth IRA and Regular Roth IRA. Get started saving. I began with thirty years to retirement.
2011-06-28 05:51:45
Huntsman:  If you have time: Google: Retirement Calculator Fidelity investments and Schwab both have good ones. This will place a solid "sticky note" in your mind about how important it is to save for retirement. Also make sure you have that 6 months worth of emergency living expenses in a savings outside retirement funds in case of an emergency. Such as losing a job, having major car repairs, or having medical costs not covered by insurance. Enjoy your future
2011-06-28 06:34:56
Chosen Answer
likepepsi:  About 80% of my savings is in the 401k, 20% elsewhere. I don't count my home value. I didn't contribute enough earlier so now I am at 14% (+ 5% match) in an attempt to make up for lost time. I didn't understand how important it is to start early because those extra years of growth make a HUGE difference. If I had always put in 14%, I could retire now instead of having to work another 10-15 years. You're doing a very smart thing. The other smart thing I learned was about asset allocation in a 401k. Check out bogleheads.org.
2011-06-28 06:40:25
Dave:  At 23 years from retirement, you need to be doing more than "thinking about it" - you need to MAXIMIZE your retirement saving. Contribute AT LEAST enough to the 401(k) to "max out" any employer match (that's free money to you). Beyond that, contribute as much more as you can afford - either to the 401(k) or into a Roth IRA.
2011-06-28 06:41:07
Rick:  Contributed 15% right out of college, dropped to 10% after a few years when I wanted to start saving for a house and other items. I also max out my Roth IRA every year. I never had a company match. For retirement I plan to have a large roth IRA, an average size 401K, and I'm planning to pay off my house and cars well in advance of retiring (still about 35 years away for me...). At my current rates, I am planning to have 1.5 million in retirement accounts before I retire. I'm not expecting social security to be there.
2011-06-28 06:41:17
bdancer222:  I wish I could have contributed to a 401k when I was only 23!! Or even when I was 33. I only had 10 years of contributions in my 401k. It isn't going to be anywhere near enough to live comfortably on, especially with the rising medical costs.
2011-06-28 08:13:24
StrawberryCrush:  I contribute 6% to my company pension and they contribute 8%, I only started this year though and I'm 28. Really wish I'd started earlier though! I do have other savings though and i'm opening an account to put in ?100 minimum each month which will purely be for retirement.
2011-06-28 08:55:52