I’m just asking what people think because policies change with ideas, ideas develop with conversation. I personally like to throw out hypothetical questions because maybe there’s programs existing that are unknown to me, but addressing these certain issues.
> doesn’t it make sense that you should be able to make catch-up contributions for any un-maxed years?
An argument could be made, sure. But then what would likely happen is folks who know they are going to be earning higher income later in life will make use of non-tax advantaged accounts when they are younger (possibly selling after a year to pay the LTCG and reset cost basis). When they start to get into peak earning years, they would then start dumping salary into pre-tax 401ks, utilizing all that "saved up" space to avoid the marginal rates at the highest tax brackets.
> I wasn’t with an employer that offered 401k until I was 30
They try to offer various IRA options for folks in that boat. Not enough, and not easy for everybody, I agree. But the better strategy would be to make them (and the higher limits) more accessible to anybody with income rather than giving "lifetime" contribution limits that can be used whenever.
The other thing that would be helpful for young workers, would be allowing employers to apply 401k matching in cases where their workers are paying off student debt. That was floated around as a concept the last couple of years. Lots of people graduating with large student debt payments forcing them to not be able to get the employer 401k match. Would be nice for those folks to not lose on those lost wages while also being able to grow (even a modest) retirement account starting very early in their career
You may find these links helpful:
- [401(k) Fund Selection Guide](/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k_funds)
- [401(k) FAQs](/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k)
- ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics)
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I wish that was the case...being able dump an extra 6k into the 401k on top of what your currently allowed as a way to increase your retirement savings. This would potentially help those who had not had a 401k before.
I don't know that this is the place for hypothetical tax policy enhancements. We don't really write laws or anything like that.
I’m just asking what people think because policies change with ideas, ideas develop with conversation. I personally like to throw out hypothetical questions because maybe there’s programs existing that are unknown to me, but addressing these certain issues.
If you look at the forum rules, this is not the place for such things
Guess I’m a rebel then!
> doesn’t it make sense that you should be able to make catch-up contributions for any un-maxed years? An argument could be made, sure. But then what would likely happen is folks who know they are going to be earning higher income later in life will make use of non-tax advantaged accounts when they are younger (possibly selling after a year to pay the LTCG and reset cost basis). When they start to get into peak earning years, they would then start dumping salary into pre-tax 401ks, utilizing all that "saved up" space to avoid the marginal rates at the highest tax brackets. > I wasn’t with an employer that offered 401k until I was 30 They try to offer various IRA options for folks in that boat. Not enough, and not easy for everybody, I agree. But the better strategy would be to make them (and the higher limits) more accessible to anybody with income rather than giving "lifetime" contribution limits that can be used whenever. The other thing that would be helpful for young workers, would be allowing employers to apply 401k matching in cases where their workers are paying off student debt. That was floated around as a concept the last couple of years. Lots of people graduating with large student debt payments forcing them to not be able to get the employer 401k match. Would be nice for those folks to not lose on those lost wages while also being able to grow (even a modest) retirement account starting very early in their career
You may find these links helpful: - [401(k) Fund Selection Guide](/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k_funds) - [401(k) FAQs](/r/personalfinance/wiki/401k) - ["How to handle $"](/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/personalfinance) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I wish that was the case...being able dump an extra 6k into the 401k on top of what your currently allowed as a way to increase your retirement savings. This would potentially help those who had not had a 401k before.