You want to retire at age 65? Not early? Check out MMM article called "the shockingly simple math behind early retirement". Look at the graphs. Consider putting way more than 10% in.
We don't have much context here about OP's current financial situation (income, current assets, short term need for cash, padding E-fund to a comfortable level, debt elimination, etc.) This is relevant because our advice might be very different if OP is just starting out, already has 1MM invested, etc.
I very much agree that OP should give strong consideration to deferring greater than 10%, but any financial advisor with fiduciary responsibility would want to be sure the other boxes are checked first and that one is on solid footing before investing.
I have an opportunity to contribute to a 401k with a 4.5% match of salary if you contribute at least 6.5% of your salary to a 401k. I'm selecting the Roth 401k option.
Why Roth instead of traditional?
I'm also curious about this one?
at 25, you have a long enough time horizon for investing that your best allocation would probably be heavy on stocks. Index funds, such as the Vanguard options in that portfolio, are an extremely efficient way to own a diversified stock portfolio. They aren't the only game in town, but many on the forum who math much harder than I do swear by them. You're looking at the expense ratios, which is great and should help you make an informed decision that compares apples to apples. Fees will erode returns much more than most people realize.
Most importantly, you're actually participating in your 401(k) plan, which means you're already miles ahead of most 25 year-olds. Keep kicking ass!
Sure.
I'm 25 and wife is 24, we make $140,000 combined. Our only debt is a $10,000 loan on a new car we recently bought after her car was totaled. We save about $4,000 a month. My wife does not want to early retire, nor does she want me to. I think as we get older, we may wish to early
We pay rent about $1300 a mont in Denver. We're looking to buy in the next 1-2 years with a $30-80k down payment.
We live on about 44% of our total take home pay after taxes. We save the rest. I'm planning for a 65 retirement with an annual withdrawal of about $60,000 to $90,000, mostly for traveling.
Financial Plan Timeline
This Year: Save 10-15% for retirement (until we retire, save that every year), save for a house, save emergency fund
Next Year: Buy a house, may have children, bump emergency fund to 6 months
5 Years: have 2-3 kids by now, 100k~ in retirement, wife is a stay at home mom
10 years: House paid off, direct all surplus cash into savings for long term investment / money goals
20 years: 500-800k retirement 401k or similar, maybe early retire, buy some rentals if not