@Revelate wrote:
Hrm, realized a few years back I'm just not good at math but how do you have 80k worth of savings post-tax and NOT be able to maximize one's 401K unless SO is making less than the maximum?
The short answer is life happened, literally.
My SO and I maintain separate accounts for all finances except emergency savings, and each being fairly independent, we both want to contribute what we can to the household. She used to be in a position to max out her 401k, but with a child joining us this year, she has also taken lead on withholding the max for Dependent Care FSA and paying for daycare (of which the FSA only covers about 2 months out of the year before its exhausted). She also covers a few of our shared bills each month and still withholds close to 30% of her gross for 401k. She wants at least a little take-home pay (a few hundred a month at this point) and I respect that. Once we don't need to pay for daycare, she can go back to maxing out her 401k.
On the other side, almost all of the post-tax withholdings come from me. I max out my ESPP annually, but do not cash out any of it for expenses (that is, it stays invested in something). Same with my RSU vests, which being in tech you know can be rather significant. Those two sources alone make up most of that after-tax fund. As you know, on top of this I also max out my 401k and family HSA, and I will receive around $8,500 in employer matching starting in 2020 (used to be $6,000).
Yes, we're losing out on a few thousand more dollars we could be saving, and we've certainly discussed it. She also wants to feel like she's contributing to the household and wouldn't be able to do that if she had no money left to contribute. I respect that need of hers so we let it go for now. It's not like we're not saving anything, after all.
