| Dave Ramsey touches on this topic in his book, | | | | throwing away free money. For some people the |
| and it's a common topic for discussion among | | | | company matches up to 5%, so you should keep |
| financial experts. The answer is, "it depends." | | | | up the 5% level. If you give up free money it's |
| There are several factors that must be | | | | something you can't get back. There are no |
| considered before deciding this and it will be | | | | retroactive do-over payments. |
| different for different people. | | | | 3. The math. Sometimes running the numbers is |
| The issues to consider are: | | | | the easier thing, but don't forget to factor not |
| 1. Motivation. If stopping your retirement | | | | only your lost income on those 401k contributions, |
| contributions is going to leave you unmotivated to | | | | but also those of your employer. You could be |
| resume them at a later date, then you shouldn't | | | | giving up far more money than you think merely |
| stop. On the flip side, if you won't maintain the | | | | to keep the momentum going. For each year you |
| motivation to continue paying off debt and you | | | | wait you can give up tens of thousands in future |
| need that retirement infusion to be channeled to a | | | | benefits. That's a hard pill to swallow. |
| credit card payment instead in order to make it | | | | The moral of the story is that you should |
| bigger and get the ball going faster then you need | | | | carefully examine your determination, your |
| to put as much to the credit cards as possible. | | | | potential lost investments and your ability to stay |
| 2. How much is required for a company match? | | | | on track. Even those the numbers may say one |
| In my case the company contributes to my 401k | | | | thing, your human nature may out weigh anything |
| no matter what I put in. Even zero. So I should | | | | in the spreadsheet. |
| put everything toward debt because I'm not | | | | |