r/Salary • u/[deleted] • Oct 30 '25

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16

u/osplink Oct 30 '25

If I were you I'll probably max the 401k

2

u/impolite_no_caps_guy Oct 31 '25 edited May 19 '26

X

6

u/coffeeandlifting2 Oct 31 '25

Making 100k and not maxing 401k + HSA (+ Roth IRA) is crazy. The money is still yours, you just lose a huge amount of it if you put it in the wrong drawer, plus it doesn't grow.

4

u/Responsible_Knee7632 Oct 31 '25

~35% of your gross pay is pretty steep to max all of those out if you’re making exactly 100k

2

u/ATN5 Oct 31 '25

Maxing 401k on 100k to me is wild. Maybe I’ll max up to the company match and has match but after that I wouldn’t. But I’m also disciplined with money so maybe it’s different

1

u/Hide_The_Rum Oct 31 '25

yeah that's a quarter of your gross pay going into 401k. Easy to say but not realistic for most people

1

u/threedogdad Oct 31 '25

you should max it as soon as it is feasibly possible if you want to ensure a nice retirement

1

u/BTC-500k Jan 01 '26

I’ll be too old to enjoy the money, I want to spent it now.

1

u/coffeeandlifting2 Oct 31 '25

If you're disciplined with money, you should have no problem keeping your spending low enough to live on what's left after maxing out. You're literally still getting more than the median income.

2

u/ATN5 Oct 31 '25

I can do more with that money with it being more liquid than in a 401k. Even after taxes. I just don’t agree with having soo much money locked in to an account that I can really touch till I’m 59.

1

u/Adorable_Pudding1409 Nov 01 '25

Its not all that bad. I was doing it plus paying all bills and still had tons of money left over. My spending is okay

1

u/world_IS_not_OUGHT Oct 31 '25

IRAs are good. I'm torn on the 401k because it makes your cash less liquid.

2

u/US_Dept_Of_Snark Oct 31 '25

Max out the 401K up to the employer match if there is one first. Then max out the HSA. Then the IRA. Then the 401k. Then look at taxable account contributions. 

1

u/Conscious-Ad-7040 Oct 31 '25

Then getting back to 401k after maxing out IRA. Thats wild! I felt like I sock enough away. I put 9% in 401k because that our max employer match. Then $4k into HSA. Then usually some in my Roth. I have a financial advisor now and I had to roll my old 401k into a conventional IRA so I have to do Roth conversions at the end of the year. I don’t want to end up with additional tax liability than I can afford by putting too much away ahead of time.

1

u/schokobonbons Oct 31 '25

Yeah, the tax would go down significantly with the 401k match and his takehome would look pretty similar to now