What HHI did you start your 401k?

[Anonymous]

I think it was my third job--at the age of 27--when I began to make my own contributions. Since then, I've been able to put away 10% to 19% between my contributions and my employers' contributions. (My last two employers have been generous, with 10% contributions.) At 34, I've got a little less than 100,000 invested. The earlier the better, but it's never too late to start!

[Anonymous]

first post grad job at 30, when I started making around 30k. Before then I was living on 13k/year. starting maxing only a few years ago, at 40.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We married quite young and only my DH was working at that time. My first job was in 1992, I started at 25K.

I put everything in my 401K, full match was for 5% of salary or something like that. My earnings increased substantially after the first year, but I continued to put away my entire salary in my 401k for the next 12 years. I retired after that to become a SAHM.

We have basically lived way below our means all our lives. Contributing to the full extent (to get match) to 401k, funding for college etc., and living on one salary. We are quite comfortable.

We have always lived on my DH's salary (including saving for retirement and college).

You're quite comfortable because of when you were born. You bought a house before the market runup. You worked during the economic boom of the 90s.

Those of us born in the 80s can't float by like people born in the 50s/60s.

I agree that we bought a house at a very low cost (in 200s), and so did a lot of our peers. But guess what? As the prices increased they sold their homes at double the price, and bought even bigger homes. There are a lot of people born in 50s/60s, who upgraded, and basically are stretched to their limits now.

My advice is to be of a mindset of making do with one salary. Mentally, that should be what you think your HHI is. Live on that salary AND save for college and retirement on that one salary. The second salary? Sock it away in a 401K account, where you cannot touch it. My salary was much lower than my DHs, however, because I was saving everything, compound interest made my savings grow to its present value.

[Anonymous]

First job, making $40k, around age 24. It took me awhile to get to the max.

[Anonymous]

First job out of college - making $32K and contributed 10%

[Anonymous]

First job. Made $34k/year and started putting money away in a ROTH in addition to setting up a "rainy day" fund and getting some life insurance. Got all my ducks in a row right away. I will get a pension but am saving like I won't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
We married quite young and only my DH was working at that time. My first job was in 1992, I started at 25K.

I put everything in my 401K, full match was for 5% of salary or something like that. My earnings increased substantially after the first year, but I continued to put away my entire salary in my 401k for the next 12 years. I retired after that to become a SAHM.

We have basically lived way below our means all our lives. Contributing to the full extent (to get match) to 401k, funding for college etc., and living on one salary. We are quite comfortable.

We have always lived on my DH's salary (including saving for retirement and college).

You're quite comfortable because of when you were born. You bought a house before the market runup. You worked during the economic boom of the 90s.

Those of us born in the 80s can't float by like people born in the 50s/60s.

I agree that we bought a house at a very low cost (in 200s), and so did a lot of our peers. But guess what? As the prices increased they sold their homes at double the price, and bought even bigger homes. There are a lot of people born in 50s/60s, who upgraded, and basically are stretched to their limits now.

My advice is to be of a mindset of making do with one salary. Mentally, that should be what you think your HHI is. Live on that salary AND save for college and retirement on that one salary. The second salary? Sock it away in a 401K account, where you cannot touch it. My salary was much lower than my DHs, however, because I was saving everything, compound interest made my savings grow to its present value.

This. I'm not of this generation so I'm not defending them, but I've seen this happen. People who "should" be comfortable bc they bought a 200k house that would now cost 500k and graduated in a great economy -- and yet I know many who keep upgrading bc they don't want the colonial they bought for 200k, they want the McMansion style; or they realize their homes are double in value so they cash out of that and use that double value to buy homes that are 4x as expensive bc they have the down payment from the first home -- and they end up in a similar position to those who are buying first homes in the current generation.

[Anonymous]

first job out of college when I was making about $22K.

[Anonymous]

First job out of law school in 1984. I think I made around $30k. I put in 5% of my salary, with a 5% match. In the early 90s I upped to 10% of my salary. Now I contribute the max of $18,000 plus some in the over 50 catch up. I can't do the full $6,000 but put in a bit over $3,000.

[Anonymous]

First job out of college making $20K in 1990. I put in 3% of my salary to get the company match. At some point, I started maxing out, but that was a few years later. Like a previous poster, an older co-worker convinced me to max out as I wouldn't miss the money if it was taken out before I got paid. He was right, and I'm so glad I listened to him!

[Anonymous]

$37,500 first job out of college in 1997. Don't remember the %, but enough to get the match at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:. I'd rather live on ramen in my 20s than cat food in my 80s.

This! I learned so much from my beans and rice days in my 20's- including 50 different ways to make beans and rice I won't romanticize everything about that time, but those early days shaped how I manage my finances to this day. It was a good/healthy challenge, after a rather cushy childhood in the burbs.