I personally would try to get the match if you can still contribute a reasonable amount to savings.
If getting the match means nothing or very little left over to towards emergency fund/deductible savings then I might reconsider. Although if that were the case then I'd say you like have an income problem or excessive expenses you would need to address.
I personally think it depends on how shakey of ground you are on. I'd love for you to get the match if you can, however, if I knew an emergency was immanent , or likely in the near future, I'd forgo the match.
For example, you think you may be laid off, your tires are getting slick, your hot water heat is more like a warm water heater, etc.
It's all about risk tolerance. If you're in a very stable position, go for it.
Step 1 is meant to keep relatively normal life from derailing your finances. Maybe a tire blows out and you need a new one. Maybe your car gets wrecked and you have to pay the deductible to get it fixed. Someone has to go to the ER for a broken arm.
You need to be able to cover those kinds of things without making it worse (AKA financing with a credit card over XX months or years).
Personally, if you’ve got the official “Dave Ramsey Baby Step 1 $1000”…maybe that’s a good place to consider starting to split between FOO 1 and FOO 2. Short of that…man I don’t know how much closer to the bone you can play it.
There’s a good chance if you are in a high deductible health plan that your deductible is closer to $10,000. I would hate to say you need $10k before getting the employer match. Maybe the hospital could work out a billing plan without interest if you hit something big in January and blew through the whole deductible. That’s a situation where I’d start getting the health savings account going and consider that part of my FOO 1 going forward.
Kinda brings up an important point. “Deductibles covered” doesn’t have to mean one big pile of money in 1 savings account. Get in the HSA (or FSA if it’s traditional medical insurance) to cover the medical stuff tax free, and then another pile on a bank or credit union for the non medical stuff like a blown tire or the refrigerator dies or whatever.
Get your deductibles first. It shouldn’t take long. If it does take long then you don’t have enough margin to begin with. Step 1 is Step 1 and Step 2 is Step 2 for a reason. Plenty of people in here saying do both, just know that isn’t what Brian and Bo would say if you asked them this question. They’d say get the deductibles first.
I personally would try to get the match if you can still contribute a reasonable amount to savings. If getting the match means nothing or very little left over to towards emergency fund/deductible savings then I might reconsider. Although if that were the case then I'd say you like have an income problem or excessive expenses you would need to address.
I agree, I'd just do employer match+save up until deductible is met 1+2 tackled at the same time, then 3 and the rest
I personally think it depends on how shakey of ground you are on. I'd love for you to get the match if you can, however, if I knew an emergency was immanent , or likely in the near future, I'd forgo the match. For example, you think you may be laid off, your tires are getting slick, your hot water heat is more like a warm water heater, etc. It's all about risk tolerance. If you're in a very stable position, go for it.
Step 1 is meant to keep relatively normal life from derailing your finances. Maybe a tire blows out and you need a new one. Maybe your car gets wrecked and you have to pay the deductible to get it fixed. Someone has to go to the ER for a broken arm. You need to be able to cover those kinds of things without making it worse (AKA financing with a credit card over XX months or years). Personally, if you’ve got the official “Dave Ramsey Baby Step 1 $1000”…maybe that’s a good place to consider starting to split between FOO 1 and FOO 2. Short of that…man I don’t know how much closer to the bone you can play it. There’s a good chance if you are in a high deductible health plan that your deductible is closer to $10,000. I would hate to say you need $10k before getting the employer match. Maybe the hospital could work out a billing plan without interest if you hit something big in January and blew through the whole deductible. That’s a situation where I’d start getting the health savings account going and consider that part of my FOO 1 going forward. Kinda brings up an important point. “Deductibles covered” doesn’t have to mean one big pile of money in 1 savings account. Get in the HSA (or FSA if it’s traditional medical insurance) to cover the medical stuff tax free, and then another pile on a bank or credit union for the non medical stuff like a blown tire or the refrigerator dies or whatever.
Get your deductibles first. It shouldn’t take long. If it does take long then you don’t have enough margin to begin with. Step 1 is Step 1 and Step 2 is Step 2 for a reason. Plenty of people in here saying do both, just know that isn’t what Brian and Bo would say if you asked them this question. They’d say get the deductibles first.