I gots a little bit of edumacations.

yes many regulations. I've set up a few retirement plans and manged several along the way. It can get pretty complicated, but I was always astounded to hear from the ones that didn't want to contribute. Though, after some meetings I never saw many who turned down the match.

They may be building 737 max ,lol. Don't sound like the smartest bunch for sure.

absolutely. there are often better investments out there than your company's 401k, but you should ALWAYS invest at least whatever they'll match.......that's free money.

I'm not aware of any investment better than the 401k. Where else can you find a guaranteed 100% profit on any investment?

It benefits you to do so. That money comes out of your check pre-tax, meaning at the end of the year that's anywhere from 3-10% of your paycheck that comes out of taxable income. I believe it was 2017 that it actually bumped me down a tax bracket. HUGE benefit!!! Not to mention you want to contribute the maximum annually as soon as possible!! The quicker you can get to putting your $19k in a 401k annually plus whatever your company will match the faster you will see that thing go above $1M. That first $1M is the hardest to make, beyond that the money really starts doing the work for you.

Our company matches the first 3% and matches half of the next 2%.
We can either contribute to the pre-tax 401K or to a post tax Roth IRA. I have been doing the 401K but have decided now to throw some of my contributions into the Roth.
I'm changing it up because:
With the pre-tax 401K IRA you reduce your taxes now but you pay taxes on it when you withdraw it which means that you also pay tax on every penny gained in the market. (Government gets their cut on the gains)
With the Roth IRA you pay the taxes now and don't pay any when you take it out. And best of all your gains in the market are tax free as long as you don't withdraw them too early.

its federally regulated. Means testing. the company has very little say in how much is matched where, just how much they are going to fund up to XXXX amount.

Perhaps "better investment" was a poor choice of wording....you can often find investments with a better potential ROI, depending on your personal risk aversion. But again, you should contribute, at MINIMUM, however much the company is willing to match.

There are better investment options outside your company's 401k. My employer offers about 10 options. My self directed plan offers 1000's of options plus I can buy and sell stocks with no commission fee.

I can’t remember but I think our company automatically enrolls you where you contribute 3%

My company sucks and only matches half of the first 4%. Thank goodness for other benefits because their 401k offer ain't cuttin it.

There are better performance options, aside from your 401k, yes.
My point is that (up to the % of 1/1 matching) there is no better option.
You put in a dollar and immediately make another dollar. That's 100% profit immediately.

My company matches 50% up to your 8%, then puts in an extra 5%, so 17% of my annual salary into a 401k is sweet.

Outback is spot on with this. If you invest in funds that pace the S&P or Dow then that 100% number actually increases to roughly 107%. (7% 20 year average return for DOW).

Goodman I would suggest really taking a look at your finances. You should be paying yourself first (I.e. retirement). Otherwise you will not be in good shape when you retire. My retirement plan is based on investments and I don’t even take Social Security into effect. If it’s still there then great, if not we’ll the I prepared for it so no big deal.

Free money is a no-brainer. But plenty of folks don't do it. New cars and trucks are much more important to many.

That is strong

Mine matches up to 4%. I'll be starting mine as soon as my one year mark hits. Planning on trying to do at least double of what they match.

I've been doing like 3%, can't remember what the match was with older company, the new company is better so I'm gonna invest more. It's been a cluster mess merging with this new company, which is about the 4th merger in 5 years. Anyways they didn't take out 401k on this check and sent out an email saying they were going to put the "match" money into our 401k's. That's what got me to thinking.

I know retirements important, but in the last 20 years I've seen the market take 2 big nose dives were folks lost big money in there 401k's. So it's not really a certainty that it's gonna be there. I'm use to being poor anyways, so no biggie.

Well if you’re use to it then you’ll stay there. It’s like saying “I’m use to loosing so why do anything different”? I’ve tried to show I bet a hundred young kids using real numbers that are just becoming nurses what their finances would be like if they max their 401ks with that first paycheck. The truth is they are making more money than they’ve ever made in their lives and they would never miss the 10% or so but very few have listened. As a matter of fact I bet less than 5% even participate. Sad. I’m just glad my two have listen but I guess because it’s been drilled in them from the start.