Thoughts about balancing 401k and cash savings?

Find a fiduciary and find one that you pay by the hour. Even a 1% fee over a long time is a ridiculous loss of wealth.

Personally, I’d set some sort of threshold- like 8-9 months of savings and build that up with like 25% of my excess cash until I reached that threshold.

After that, everything would go into the 401k. If I ended up dipping into my savings, I’d do the same thing over again until it was back where I wanted it, and then back into the 401k.

Another thing you could (should) consider would be to do some sort of tiered investments- maybe keep 3-4 months on hand in actual savings account cash, then some set amount more on hand in some sort of investment account that’s less liquid, but that earns more. That way, you still have the totally liquid cash on hand for “everyday” sorts of emergencies- hot water heater breaks, etc… but the bulk of your savings is invested in something that earns you more, but that you can get at.