Bragging a bit: Maxed out 401k for first time.

[WillPen]

Met my 2015 federal limits for 401k contributions -- the new ones at that.

I looked at my pay stub and had more $$$ in there. I asked my HR rep con confirm the reason, and she congratulated me several times, and was saying how she wishes she could do that.

It's a good feeling! I feel like a actually met some kind of goal or accomplished something. It's a far departure from my behaviors prior to becoming financially aware and discovering the money mustache blogs.

W

[eudaimonia]

Congratulations, that's awesome!

[tarheeldan]

Congratulations!!!

[dandarc]

Well done!

[trailrated]

Wooooooo! Congrats! I will be hitting that threshold this week. It is an awesome feeling :)

[cawiau]

Congrats!!!!


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[FIRE me]

Well done!

I'll top mine out too, but I have to wait until the end of the year or else I'll lose my company match. Today I changed my contribution rate from 35% to 41%. That should top me out on the last payday of the year.

[Heckler]

Congrats Willpen!  It's a new feeling for me too.



I just today exceeded my $10,000 TFSA contribution limit for 2015!  Thanks MMM! 

(luckily?, I have plenty of limit left over from the past 5 years of accumulated unused space)



That, on top of $27,000 RRSP contributions this year between us, has us well on the path to F.U.  MMM rocks!

[newton]

Outstanding!!  Keep it up.

[elaine amj]

That's awesome!!! Congrats :)

For whatever reason, we have never put a whole lot into our RRSPs. I plan to make up for lost time. This year, we maxed out our TFSA and the kids' RESPs and will be making plans to see how much we can put into our RRSPs.

[MakingSenseofCents]

Congrats!

[Dezrah]

Well done, OP. Keep up the good work. Can you do 401k and Roth IRA? ;)

This will be my first year to do that too, though admittedly we currently have two incomes but only one 401k. I wouldn't have done it though if my employer didn't offer a 50% match with no limit. Then I didn't become eligible for contributions until September, so I had to set my salary percent to 78%, that definitely had HR double checking I filled out my forms right. I'm mostly looking forward to my paychecks being larger than $200 again.

[JLee]

Well done, OP. Keep up the good work. Can you do 401k and Roth IRA? ;)

This will be my first year to do that too, though admittedly we currently have two incomes but only one 401k. I wouldn't have done it though if my employer didn't offer a 50% match with no limit. Then I didn't become eligible for contributions until September, so I had to set my salary percent to 78%, that definitely had HR double checking I filled out my forms right. I'm mostly looking forward to my paychecks being larger than $200 again.

holy fuck.

That's awesome.

[Jack]

I'll be maxing my 401k for the first time this year, too. I didn't become eligible until October (and I'd only contributed $1600 or so at my previous job), so I've had my contribution percentage at 100% for the past two and a half months. I thought I wasn't quite going to make it, falling $80 or so short, but my $500 Holiday bonus put it over the top!

I am also envious of the 50% no-limit match. Does it apply to after-tax contributions too?

[Dezrah]

My company is a really special combination of factors. All the shareholders are actively working employees (you actually have to surrender your shares when you leave) so they have every reason to be super generous with benefits. I'm sure if business slows down they'll have to pull back a bit for the long term health of the company, so I'm definitely taking advantage of the match while I can.

To answer Jack's question, yes you can receive a match if you contribute after tax funds (we have traditional and Roth options) but the match is always pre-tax per regulations. I'm still debating whether I want to do pre or post tax contributions next year.

[ShoulderThingThatGoesUp]

Me too!

[dandarc]

My company is a really special combination of factors. All the shareholders are actively working employees (you actually have to surrender your shares when you leave) so they have every reason to be super generous with benefits. I'm sure if business slows down they'll have to pull back a bit for the long term health of the company, so I'm definitely taking advantage of the match while I can.

To answer Jack's question, yes you can receive a match if you contribute after tax funds (we have traditional and Roth options) but the match is always pre-tax per regulations. I'm still debating whether I want to do pre or post tax contributions next year.

I think Jack was talking about after-tax (not Roth) contributions.  The basic requirement for the Mega-Backdoor Roth.  If the plan had that and they matched on that as well, you could do 18K traditional or Roth + another 17K or so of after-tax contributions, and get a 50% match on everything to top you up to 53K / year.  If the plan allowed in-service rollovers, you'd then roll-over the after-tax contributions to a Roth IRA as soon as possible and enjoy tax-free growth on those contributions for the rest of your life.

You've got one heck of a 401K there, even without the after-tax contributions!

[Jack]

To answer Jack's question, yes you can receive a match if you contribute after tax funds (we have traditional and Roth options) but the match is always pre-tax per regulations. I'm still debating whether I want to do pre or post tax contributions next year.

I think Jack was talking about after-tax (not Roth) contributions.  The basic requirement for the Mega-Backdoor Roth.  If the plan had that and they matched on that as well, you could do 18K traditional or Roth + another 17K or so of after-tax contributions, and get a 50% match on everything to top you up to 53K / year.  If the plan allowed in-service rollovers, you'd then roll-over the after-tax contributions to a Roth IRA as soon as possible and enjoy tax-free growth on those contributions for the rest of your life.

You've got one heck of a 401K there, even without the after-tax contributions!

Exactly: $9K in "free money" (employer contributions matching 50% up to the $18K normal limit) is already incredible, but you might be able to get $17666.67 instead by having the employer match after-tax contributions too!

[danzabar]

Great job, I did that last year and it felt awesome. We now have a ton of TFSA room to fill which is a bit overwhelming but my rrsp is maxed so it should come quickly

Congrats Willpen!  It's a new feeling for me too.



I just today exceeded my $10,000 TFSA contribution limit for 2015!  Thanks MMM! 

(luckily?, I have plenty of limit left over from the past 5 years of accumulated unused space)



That, on top of $27,000 RRSP contributions this year between us, has us well on the path to F.U.  MMM rocks!

[ETBen]

Congrats! I'm going to do it in 2016 and slightly scared at reducing my take home by so much more. But I need the tax break anyway.

[maizefolk]

Congratulations! I'm aiming to achieve the same first, but I won't make it until the very last paycheck of the year.

[wkumtrider]

Does the $18,000 limit include company matching?  Or can you invest $18,000 from your paycheck in addition to the company match?

[dandarc]

Does the $18,000 limit include company matching?  Or can you invest $18,000 from your paycheck in addition to the company match?

Does not include company match.  You can defer up to $18K, and the company can add whatever they're going to add on top of that.  Combined it cannot be more than $53K.

[wkumtrider]

Thanks dandarc

[JLee]

Congratulations! I'm aiming to achieve the same first, but I won't make it until the very last paycheck of the year.

Me too! My 12/31 check will max my 401k for the first time. :D

I think last year I contributed $3-4k, so this is a huge improvement for me.

[Lindy]

Congrats!  It's a great feeling isn't it?  This is my first year maxing it out as well. 

[Dan_Breakfree]

That's great! I've come close in the past, but I didn't start taking it serious until the last few months when I started reading posts from all you smart people on MMM! This year, I've maxed mine out and then we changed my wife's contribution to 50% three months ago so her's will be maxed out too! We're in a big income year so it will definitely help with our taxes too.

[MVal]

Wow, fantastic!! It must feel amazing. :)

 I'm hoping to do the same this coming year, even though I make less than $50K. Originally, I had planned on doing $10K, but when I realized I could probably get the full Saver's credit if I maxed, I decided I'm going to try really hard to hit the 401K max in 2016.

I hope to join you this year!

[aceyou]

You Rock!