Hi! I have been around the forums for many moons but I don't think I know a lot of y'all here in Investor Ally. My spouse and I are married filing jointly with a household income hovering right around the $100K mark in an HCOLA, raising two kids, so we don't have a ton of leftover income. I'm 40, he's 35.
Currently we put money in his 401(k) just enough to get the match, we both have HSAs, and I have a city employee defined benefit pension fund that grabs 10% of my paycheck (already vested). The last few years, the only other thing we've done is fully fund my Roth. Now that we have a little more of a cash cushion (we both had divorces to pay off and we bought this house), I don't feel as compelled to do the Roth if something else is better.
I've only just realized that what I have access to isn't a 401(k), it's a 457(b). No match, and I haven't opened an account. My question is, if I can't afford to fund both an IRA and the 457(b), is it worth the extra flexibility to do the 457(b)? Vanguard Total Stock Market Index in that form will cost me .155% versus .04% if I buy it myself in the IRA. Thoughts?