The reason the investment order recommends funding an IRA before maxing out a 401(k) is because employer plans sometimes (often?) have inferior investment options to what would be available in an IRA at many providers (Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, Etrade, TD Ameritrade, etc), so it works well as a catch all. However, this isn't a universal truth. If your investment options are as good as or better than the options available at those places you then sticking with your 401(k) is just fine.