This year I plan to max out my 401k contribution; however, since starting at my company I have received a year-end bonus that I have also contributed to enjoy the tax savings (my bonus has ranged from $3000-$8500). My company has paid out a bonus for the past 10 years and mine has increased each year since I started, but this is obviously dependent on how profitable my company is each year.
To avoid the 35% tax rate that would be taken out, I would like to continue to contribute this to my 401k at the end of each year. Therefore, I am trying to balance my interest in maxing out my 401k with leaving enough room so that I can apply the majority of my bonus each year. The other tricky thing for me is that I have been at my company for less than 4 years, so each year the amount of my bonus is still a bit of a surprise. My initial thought is to assume an amount slightly less than my bonus from the previous year (to hopefully be conservative) and calculate my monthly contributions to match the difference.
I also realize that some years we may not get a bonus and I don't want to avoid maxing out my 401k those years. However, my company is pretty transparent with our financials, so if we did have an unprofitable year (this information is reported to the employees each quarter), part way through the year I could plan to increase my monthly contributions to offset what I was hoping to get from a bonus.
I assume others have dealt with this issue (or hopefully have thoughts about the best way to handle this) and I would appreciate your advice.