The amount you can save using employer contributions depends on the specific terms of the plan and the employer's percentage match for your contributions. Typically, the employer will offer a match within a certain percentage range of your salary, such as 3% or 5%. This means that if you make your own contributions of, say, 5% of your salary, your employer may be willing to contribute the same percentage on their side.

Anonymous wrote:Investing is a gamble, I am not a gambling type. As to the amount of money I make (OP here btw), it is not a lot in DMV, as my rent runs to 2K a month

You might want to head over to the DCUM money & finance thread and ask for ideas. You are smart to think about this stuff now and prepare. Not all investing is a gamble. You may have heard of things like inflation protected securities or guaranteed returns. One idea - would it be possible to get a roommate and put the rent savings in a Roth? You could pick really conservative funds that are nothing like gambling.

Investing is a gamble, I am not a gambling type. As to the amount of money I make (OP here btw), it is not a lot in DMV, as my rent runs to 2K a month

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I do work on the books making about $1300 a week, about $1025 after taxes, and was able to save roughly 5K a year for the last 5-6 yrs but that is so little. I am an immigrant who came (legally) in my mid 40s, so I did not have a chance to work for 20-30 yrs but will qualify for social security albeit very low. This is really worrying me since I anticipate big expenses such as dental which can be thousands. Wish Medicare would cover dental work.

That money invested would be about $55k right now, and all tax free if you had done it inside of Roth.
It's not how much you make, it's what you do with the money you make.
I have never made as much you, but I made investing and personal finance my priority.
I'm in mid 40s immigrant who worked for minimum wage most of my life because of my status. I learned about investing from books; I don't have to work anymore. Investing and making money with money is my job.
I would not let my money sit inside of 401k, match or not match. 401k is a savings vehicle with high fees and very lousy investment choices. You need to invest because you behind and not just save.

Op here, no, I would not want to live with the family. Moving to a low cost of living area is problematic, and the pay rates for nannies - that is, if anyone is going to hire an older nanny - is much lower. I guess I will have to apply for public aid which is very humiliating.

I highly doubt that most preschools are doing a matching 401k.

How old are you op ? Do you have family you can live with ? Maybe when you retire move to a lower cost of living area ?