Does It Make Sense for Programmers to Move to the Bay Area?

Re:Does It Make Sense for Programmers to Move to the Bay Area? by the_gastropod on Wednesday December 14, 2016 @04:43PM (#13179935)

> How exactly do you figure increasing your take-home pay by contributing to a 401k?

I guess it depends what you mean by "take-home". The original premise was "saving 100k in 2 years". I hope we can agree that saving money in a 401k is saving money, regardless of whether we agree it's "take-home".

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Re:Does It Make Sense for Programmers to Move to the Bay Area? by twblalock on Wednesday December 14, 2016 @04:51PM (#13179990)

I assumed we were talking about money for a home down payment, which would not normally go into a 401k. Getting it out would require a 401k loan, and a 401k loan for a six-figure amount is almost always a terrible idea. The only other way to get it out would be to take an unqualified distribution and get hit with a significant fine.

Most 401k loans become due in full if you leave your job. That traps you in your job until you pay it back, because if you had enough cash to pay the loan outright, you would not have needed the loan in the first place. Unless you have an unusually good severance agreement with your employer that would enable you to pay back the loan if you leave your job or get fired, taking out a 401k loan is a bad idea.

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Re:Does It Make Sense for Programmers to Move to the Bay Area? by rockinghigh on Thursday December 15, 2016 @01:17AM (#13182821)

401k loans are limited to $50k.

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Re:Does It Make Sense for Programmers to Move to the Bay Area? by jdmichal on Friday December 16, 2016 @03:41PM (#13196582)

Take-home is typically understood as the amount written on the check. As in, that's the amount you take home with you when you cash the check.

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