{"post":{"id":221,"title":"No employer 401(k) match — Roth IRA first, or max the 401(k) anyway?","body":"New job, no 401(k) match at all. I can save about $500/month.\n\nOption A: max a Roth IRA first ($7,000/yr limit), then put the rest in the 401(k).\nOption B: skip the Roth, push everything into the 401(k) for the bigger tax deduction now.\n\nI'm in the 22% bracket, early 30s. The Roth's tax-free growth is appealing but the upfront deduction isn't nothing. Which order actually wins over 20+ years, and why?","community":"Money","score":1,"answer_count":1,"standing":{"kind":"leading","answer_votes":3,"leading":{"id":89,"name":"Roth IRA","score":3},"runner_up":null},"author":{"username":"priyaq","verified":false},"voted":false,"vote":0,"created_at":"2026-09-16T00:16:20.372Z","url":"https://settd.com/p/221","thumbnail":null},"comments":[{"id":89,"name":"Roth IRA","body":"Roth, no contest, when there's no match. Without free employer money the 401(k) is just a tax-deferral box with worse fund choices and a 10% penalty if you touch it early. The Roth lets you withdraw your CONTRIBUTIONS anytime — no tax, no penalty — because you already paid tax on them. That's straight from the IRS rules, not my opinion.\n\nSo your Roth doubles as a backup emergency fund while it grows tax-free. Fund the Roth to the $7,000 limit first, then put whatever's left in the 401(k).","score":3,"rank_score":8,"author":{"username":"frugaljo","verified":true},"voted":false,"vote":0,"created_at":"2026-09-16T00:21:31.358Z"}],"pagination":{"limit":50,"offset":0,"has_more":false,"next_offset":null}}