Maximize Contributions to 401k to Benefit Employer Matching
Your next step in building a successful investment portfolio includes the regular contribution to the 401k plan that is provided by your employer. You should strive toward the maximization of your contributions in order to get the most of the matching that your employer provides. The contribution matching possibility has been provided by an increasing number of employers. In case your employer provides this opportunity you should not miss the chance of getting the most out of it. The percentage that is matched from each contribution varies from one company to another. Generally, the percentage is tied to tenure, which means that the more years you have spent with the company the higher the percentage is.
Don't be one of the many employees who undervalue this possibility due to lack of consideration about the time value of money. Additionally, many employees are unwilling to contribute just because they will bring home a lower amount of cash since the contributions are taken away from the monthly paycheck.
If you are foolish enough and decide that you cannot afford to make contributions, you will lose as much as a 100% return on your investment when your employer provides a dollar-to-dollar matching. Therefore, it will be extremely foolish not to contribute.
We are sure that no other investment is able to give you such high returns, since the investments in your 401k plan are tax-deferred and grow undisturbed by taxations for twenty, thirty or even forty years, depending on when you have started to contribute to your plan. As you can see the opportunity cost of not investing in your 401k plan is too high to pay.
Conclusion
As long as your employer provides contribution matching, disregard the debts on your credit card or the unpaid utility bills. It is worth the risk, since you will see the great results in the near future. Otherwise, if your employer doesn't provide contribution matching allocate to your 401k plan as much as your current financial situation allows you. But always contribute to your 401k account!
To get the most out of your money, whether you are interested in mutual funds, stocks, ETFs or options, you need two main things - the knowledge and the right trading platform. As for the trading platform, we can highly recommend you try Zecco and TradeKing
.
Zecco offers free stock/etf trading, no account minimum, trading community, real time quotes, and is also protected and insured against loss by SIPC.
Opening a Zecco account to take advantage of $0 stock trades allows you to save money, which you can reinvest instead of paying brokerage commissions. These fees can make really big difference for long-term investing options like retirement plans (Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Rollover IRA - 401k).
TradeKing has been ranked #1 Discount Broker by the annual US broker survey of SmartMoney (the Wall Street Journal Magazine). It has been also awarded the highest ranking in Barron's annual survey of Best Browser-Based Online Brokers. Take advantage of the award winning platform features by opening a TradeKing account and get $50.
| Rate this article : Low | High |
- Roth IRA Phase-Out Rules Regarding Contribution Limits
- IRS 401k Contribution Limits for 2009, 2008 - 2004
- SEP IRA Contribution Limits for 2009, 2008 - 2004
- 403(b) Contribution Limits for 2009, 2008 - 2005
- Simple IRA Contribution Limits for 2009, 2008 - 2003
- Traditional IRA and Roth IRA Contribution Limits for 2009, 2008 - 2002
- Section 457 Plan Contribution Limits for 2009, 2008 - 2005
- SEP IRA Plan
- The Pension Protection Act of 2006
- Retirement Assets Allocation
- Successful 401k Plan Considerations
- Life Cycle Mutual Funds
- Emergency Fund Importance
- Home Investment - When and Should I Buy a House?
- Open Roth IRA Account
- Eliminate High Interest Rate Credit Card Debt
- Maximize Contributions to 401k to Benefit Employer Matching
- Building a Successful Investment Portfolio
- Benefits of 401k Plans
- Traditional Brokers vs. Discount Brokers
- Personal Financial Planning Advice
- Financial Advice for the Upcoming Year
- Individual 401k Plans Improvements
- Individual 401k Plan
- Solo 401k Plan
- Specifics of the IRC 401 (c) Section
- Personal Financial Planning
- How to Create and Write a Financial Plan
- 401k Home Loan
- Planning a Budget
- Emergency Fund Calculations
- What is a Reverse Mortgage
- Stretch IRA Basics
- 401k Plan Advantages
- What is a 401k Plan
- 401k Retirement Plan Fundamentals
- 401k Plan Advices for Employers
- Reasons to Offer a 401 (k) Plan
- Effects of Changing Jobs on 401 (k) Plans
- Medicare Health Insurance Explanation
- The Successful Investor: John Neff
- Long Term Capital Gains Tax Rate
- Personal Financial Goals Planning
- Non Profit Consumer Credit Counseling Agency Advices
- How to Make a Budget
- Financial Checkup Steps
- Motives to Use Personal Financial Budgeting
- Top Don’ts in Retirement Planning
- Advanced Directives as Part of Your Retirement Plan
- Education IRA and IRAs for Children Opportunities
- What is a Rollover IRA
- Spousal IRA
- What is a Roth IRA Account
- What is a Traditional IRA Account
- IRA Basics
- 401k Plan Employer Advices
- Retirement Budgeting Planning
- IRS Income Tax Audit Guidelines
- Parent Retirement Assistance
- Planning for Retirement
- Pension and Social Securities Trends
- What is a 401k Retirement Plan
- Roth 401k New Regulations
- Roth 401k
- David Wray’s 401k Profit Sharing Plan Opinion
- Retirement Plans and Mutual Funds
- 401k Contribution Limits Explained
- Minimize Company Stock in the 401k
- Get the Most out of 401k Matching
- Mutual Funds by American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
- Solo 401k Plan or Individual 401k Plan
- 401k Investing Advice