> in my case it's likely I may want access to the money before retirement age In that case always max (currently $5,500/yr) a Roth IRA first, because you can w

> in my case it's likely I may want access to the money before retirement age In that case always max (currently $5,500/yr) a Roth IRA first, because you can withdraw the principal before retirement. Second, if your company 401k offers loans the typical (maybe this is a legal thing?) max I hear is 50% up to 50k total. You're making a loan to yourself that pay back into the investment. Keep in mind if you leave the employer you may have to pay off the loan... If you really might need access to your money it's probably best to stick to Roth IRA + taxable (non-retirement) investments. Another thing about 401ks is the fund choices can sometimes be shit. If they're all high expense rate funds I don't even bother. These days the companies I've worked at typically offer one or two halfway decent index funds, YMMV.