I should but no, currently saving money by investing into my portfolio

I figured safe stocks > savings account at any bank

My company matches 5%, so i just do that for 10% total

I don't know how the American system works with a 401k but if its like RRSP and you can claim a tax deduction for your contributions than as a younger individual its far more advantageous to contribute to your TFSA and invest it through different investment vehicles. This is because generally as a younger individual you will be in the lower tax bracket compared to later in life when you have higher earnings and a higher effective tax rate. A contribution to your RRSP would then be worth more as the deduction is then at the higher effective tax rate.

Just common sense money management really.


For Americans I believe matching the employer portion of your 401K is standard and maxing your Roth IRA before your 401K is the most advantageous. Again I don't know the American system as well as the Canadian so research on your own.

If your young though its important to understand the investment of after tax dollars (Roth IRA) and deferring tax to a later date (401K). Thus if you invest into a Roth IRA now and you have compounding growth the gains on those invested dollars can be withdrawn tax free.

This post was edited by wesley123 on Apr 4 2017 08:48pm

I'm Canadian so we have RRSP's and I'm not putting anything in it right now as my tax bracket isn't high enough when I max my TFSA manually. I've got my funds stashed away in TFSA's, Non registered TFSA's and some investment portfolios ranging from 5%-15%.

Company pays around 5% anually, I invest around 20% with an ROI averaging at around 70% anually. Saving accounts are for fools. Why would you lend your money to the bank vs a 2% annual ROI?

Diversify your portfolio and invest in stocks if you've got the brains for it. If not, find something else to make money on. I'd rather retire at 40 with 50mio, than hope the state and banks havent lost all my savings at age 70..

Remind me again how much in 401Ks were lost in 2008 in the US..?

a big savings account helps when buying a house

but i'm in NJ, the way things work with money in the tri-state are more fucky than most places.

In Canada we have a home buyers plan where you can pull 25K from your RRSP and repay it back over 15 years and not have it included in your taxable income. Can you do this with a 401 in America? Just for my own interest.

Answered my own question with some research, looks like you can pull 10K as a first time home buyer in America from an IRA without being subject to a 10% penalty but not a 401K . You can roll a 401K into an IRA however then withdraw 10K from the IRA.

This post was edited by wesley123 on Apr 6 2017 04:39pm

My company matches at 8% so thats what i do. Also not based on stocks so there will be no decreases

edit: Can also take loans on it. Can get it before 65 but a huge chunk taken out.

Been only 5 years now and it is growing like wildfire. Definitely will have enough for my dream car ect... in the future if i make it lol.

Best investment you can do if you don't make alot extra imo.

This post was edited by 13375 on Apr 7 2017 09:49am

It varies by corporation. If I wanted to loan out of my 401k I could up to 50,000. No withdrawal penalty but i'd lose what would be aculling with that amount still invested.

I get $5.10 an hour into Rrsp(401k). Overtime applies to that wage as well.