A few weeks ago, something amazing happened. When my husband came home from work, he handed me a magical paper. I couldn’t believe my eyes…my dreams were finally coming true.
Honey has worked with the same company for well over ten years, but their benefits were always lacking. Their health insurance still sucks, I doubt that will ever change.
But now, after all these years, the company is finally offering a 401k match. Woohoo for FREE MONEY! I am so happy, I’ve wanted this for close to 5 years now. It’s not as great as I had hoped it would be, but it’s much better than no match at all.
What they’re going to do is match 50% of our 401k contributions up to $2,000. That means, that if we contribute $2,000 this year to our 401k, they’re going to throw $1,000 into our account.
Right now we’re only contributing 1% to our 401k, down from 8% last year. We had reduced it because 1) we were planning to buy a house and needed to save as much money as possible 2) we didn’t get a match, so it didn’t seem too bad. Of course this was supposed to be temporary, but we decided to continue for a while since we’re saving up the cash for a second car this year.
Now, I’m wanting to get our 401k contributions increased gradually so that we can take advantage of the match this year. The first thing I said after reading the paper (about the new match) he brought home, was to tell him we need to increase it at least 1% the next day.
Unfortunately, nobody can seem to get a hold of anybody at the main office. Apparently there’s some kind of drama going on and whatnot. They aren’t answering phones, replying to emails or faxes, nothing. It sure makes it difficult to increase our contributions when we can’t get a hold of those who do it.
Even though our expenses are ridiculously close to our income, we can stand to increase it 1%. It’s pre-tax income, so 1% really won’t make that much of a difference paycheck-wise. But on the flip side, an extra 1% into our 401k really means an extra 1.5% because of the match.
I hate missing out on free money, so if I just gradually increase it 1% here and 1% there, we should be able to earn the full match, either by the end of this year or sometime next year.
Does your job offer a 401k match?
Would you take advantage if they did?
1% is better than 0% and over the long term it will add up to be worthwhile, you just have to remember to look at the big picture
Glen @ Monster Piggy Bank recently posted..Forex Currency Trading Basics For Beginners – Part 1
Yeah, I just can’t wait to increase it and earn the full match. It’ll take a lot of work to get our budget there, but it will be worth it in the end.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Money & Goals: Weekly Update #2
I only contribute 1% as well. It adds up. We have a pension as well as a 401k that matches up to 100% up to 7% of contributions per pay period. It gets to be a lot when you have your HSA, health insurance, Dependant Care Savings AND taxes taken out of your check!
I can only imagine. Hopefully you earn enough that all those deductions don’t effect your take home too badly.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Saving Money Isn’t Always Easy
Awesome that they’re finally starting to offer a match! At all my previous jobs I would put in enough to get the full match and then save in IRA’s outside of that. Now that we run our own business, we’re on our own but we love it.
John S @ Frugal Rules recently posted..Things That Make Me Scratch My Head
That’s my long term plan. After we are able to get the full match, I want to increase our Roth IRA contributions.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Are You Saving Money With Online Coupons?
This is great news–well done on making the commitment to get that free money
The Happy Homeowner recently posted..Increased Productivity = More Money in My Pocket
I didn’t even bother with the 401(k) with my company when I was hired because they don’t match. If they reinstate it, I’ll go ahead and sign up. I’m currently contributing ~2% of my gross income into my IRA instead.
Edward Antrobus recently posted..February 2013 Net Worth Update
A lot of people don’t bother unless they’ll get a match too. Hopefully your company will start offering a match.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Money & Goals: Weekly Update #1
I have never understood why people don’t at least contribute the amount that their company matches, that is a guaranteed 100% instant return on your money!
Nick @ ayoungpro.com recently posted..Why You Can’t Get an Interview
I think a lot of people just can’t afford it, don’t understand it or don’t know what to do once the money is in there.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Money & Goals: Weekly Update #2
Free money is one of my favorite things! Take as much as you can. It really adds up if you look at the calculations over the long haul.
Kim@Eyesonthedollar recently posted..Sequestration: Has the US Government Cried Wolf Too Many Times?
If you don’t get every single dollar of that match, you might as well take a match and burn dollars to heat your home… or something like that. Definitely grab that free money, haha.
PK recently posted..The Curious Case of The 30-Year Mortgage Rate
Haha That’s the plan, I just have to put in the work to get us there.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Money & Goals: Weekly Update #2
The companies I’ve been at offered for the first five thousand dollars they would match. But yeah if given the opportunity I definitely would.
Awesome!
Jen Perkins recently posted..Money & Goals: Weekly Update #1
My company took our match away this year. I still contribute as much as I used to just because I don’t even notice it missing at this point. I was planning on increasing what I put in, but have put that into an IRA in light of the cut.
Congrats on getting the match finally! Trust me, anything is better than nothing!
The First Million is the Hardest recently posted..A Beginners Guide To Bitcoin
That sucks. Hopefully you were able to earn lots of free money up until now.
Jen Perkins recently posted..Net Worth Update~ March 2013
Awesome, congrats! Free money is always nice. I’d definitely take advantage if my company offered a match.
CT – Cashtastrophe recently posted..The Definition of a Recessionista
wow, thats a great news for you, 401k ohh my 😀