Comments on: Running Scared?

By: Msminiducky

Msminiducky — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:46:53 +0000

Hey, if pep talks are what it takes, pep talk away! Thank goodness for the true-up, you won’t be *hurt* by the lost savings.

By: Andrew Stevens

Andrew Stevens — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:23:46 +0000

I hadn’t remembered your true-up post. My company doesn’t offer that so you have to be careful if you frontload your contributions beyond the maximum allowed. In that case, you should be in good shape.

For what it’s worth, my retirement priorities are:
1) 401(k) to full company match
2) maximize Roth IRA
3) anything additional goes into 401(k) without match

I feel pretty strongly that the Roth is a better bet than 401(k) without match as long as you’re reasonably young (younger than 50, say), unless you expect to be paying significantly less taxes in retirement.

By: Sistah Ant

Sistah Ant — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:29:10 +0000

What’s a “true-up”?

And good for you for giving yourself a pep talk! As long as you remember what’s important to you and prioritize it in your actions, you’ll be making progress!

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:28:54 +0000

Dear Andrew,

I have a true-up so I am getting the full match from my company though my last 7 paychecks have zero % contributions for the rest of the year. Trust me. I’ve done the math here.

“And then I remembered that my company does a 401k true-up. So I called my benefits department to confirm this and they said yes, they do.”

By: Andrew Stevens

Andrew Stevens — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 09:05:57 +0000

Try not to get too complacent. I’m right with you on cutting back on retirement saving in order to get rid of your debts. In the long run, that’s probably a very smart choice. Just make sure to roll that money back into retirement saving once the debts are gone. Never consider cutting back on retirement saving (other than to get rid of debt or avoid going into it) until you have at least twice your current income saved up for retirement. Then you can think about it, at least if you’re not yet 40 at that point.

Also, make sure you get the full employer matching contribution to your 401(k) no matter what you do. There is no return, even very high-interest credit card debt, that beats employer match.

By: Asset Gatherer

Asset Gatherer — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 22:13:53 +0000

Mapgirl, you can so do this! It could be a LOOOOTTTT worse, but you’re not even going to go there. Just keep looking forward and don’t worry about what’s behind you.

By: thisisbeth

thisisbeth — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:49:13 +0000

Pep talks are good. You are smart and capable and you can accomplish what you need. And repeating things is very good–it reinforces the lesson/goal.

By: Mrs. Micah

Mrs. Micah — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:16:40 +0000

Peptalks are good. Mr. Micah gave me one when I didn’t want to go to work this morning. Though that was less about comfort and more about paralysis.

Hope you find motivation!