conversation: User (drewskie): "Background - I am 26 years old and the only debt I have are my car payments at $300 a month.  My salary is about $45k and I live with my girlfriend so all expenses/utilities are split.  I currently put 10% of my paycheck towards my 401k and my employer contributes an additional 3% regardless of my contributions.  I have a Roth IRA with approximately $4.5k in it but I stopped contributing last year to save up for some large expenses.\n\nMy question - Would it be reasonable to lower my 401k contributions to 5% for the time being and splitting that amount between my Roth IRA and an emergency fund (just opened a savings account with ING online)?"
  Self: "Unless your 401k has amazing fund selection, you get better bang for your buck by going with a IRA (probably Roth for you).  Since it doesn't seem like the company money is influenced by your contributions, I would max my Roth IRA, then contribute to the 401k any extra savings.  \n\nRoth's also have more flexibility since you can withdraw your contributions (the principle) at any time without penalty.\n\ntl;dr: Yea, that's a smart change to make. "
  User (drewskie): "Thanks for the advice.  Didn't think it would be a big difference in the switch but wanted to make sure."
  