Because I’m nosy.
0$. It all goes in at once from a supplementary payment.
5%, which is matched (5% is the max for matching in my job). Not contributing when matching funds are available is throwing away money, IMO (though I understand that some may not have a choice and need every penny of their paycheck for bills).
5% plus the full $5,500 to my IRA
9% in an attempt to match a lost profit sharing plan…
When I started (now retired) with my last company, they put away an amount equal to 15% of my salary + bonus into a company run profit sharing plan. What I considered a fantastic deal. The inverstments were well managed and did very well for us.
A few years later, a couple of idiot co-workers got their knickers all wound up over their lack of control over the investments and pushed for a 401k. They got it but IIRC, the company could only match 6% of 401k contributions. So, to keep the total at 15% of salary the company gave us all a 9% raise and suggested we contribute that amount.
We lost the 15% profit sharing of our bonus amounts - which was significant because it paid out like clockwork and usually was 20% of our pay.
When I realized that I was not going to be well prepared for retirement, I started routing all raises and bonuses into investments in index funds. I figured if I had lived last year without the raise, I could do this year without spending it.
6% for me personally but my consulting company is unusually generous with their 401K matching. They match $1.50 for every $1 that I put in so that brings the total to 15% of pay (salary + bonuses). 6% of employee contributions is the max for the matching employer contribution so I stop there for that investment. I invest much more outside of my 401K.
My employer has a pension and no 401k. In theory they’re contributing $4 for every hour I work but if I’m employed there long enough to vest I’ll consider my life a failure and commence seppuku.
At my last job I withheld 10% plus an employer contribution of 6% plus a similar pension plus $5,500/yr to my Roth IRA. I was really trying to catch up for having not started until I was 25.
I contribute enough to get to the annual maximum ($18K in 2015). Took a while to get there; I started at about a 5% contribution, and bumped it a percent whenever I got a raise.
Now I am going in the opposite direction, and bump it down every year or two when I get raises that outstrip the rate that the maximum goes up.
20% before tax. It’s just easier to funnel raises into the 401K. This coming year I’m planning on building a larger accessible emergency fund. My goal is to save $.50 for every dollar I take home.
StG
I put in a fixed $692 per paycheck to max out the $18000/year contribution. Works out to around 10-12%.
I set mine at 100%, so my full paycheck goes in until I hit the maximum for the year. That way I get the most money into the market as early as possible.
I don’t have a 401k or any pension I can pay in to, so I buy stocks, ETFs and funds.
I put in 15% per paycheck until the cap is hit. The last few paychecks of the year end up being bigger because of that.
Enough so I hit the max (including catch-up) in about 6 months.
Zero to 401k because my company has a profit sharing program and so my 401k wouldn’t be tax deductible.
My husband contributes the max to his 401k each year. It keeps going up every year, but now that he’s over 50, we can put away even more catch up. Yippee!
No financial expert here but you can set up an IRA on your own and gain the benefits associated. Maybe someone who knows more can explain and compare contrast various options (Roth, etc.).
We have a “Simple IRA” rather than a 401k. Starting January 1, I raised my contribution to 20%, to hit the max plus the catch-up amount (I’m over 50). I want to retire relatively early, and this is part of my plan.
With my company’s plan I’d lose matching funds by doing that. They match 70% on the first 4% of contribution, and 50% on the next 4%, so any paycheck without an 8% contribution loses some of the match.
I roll over to after-tax contributions after I hit the limit. That’s usually right at the point when my social security Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) contributions stop, so the extra income tax I have to pay is mitigated by that.
I contribute 15% and this is matched by the company.
Mine matches half of what you put in regardless (not including catch up)