@rockvillemom , I understand the motivation, but a tax advantage window closes when it does, never to come back again for that year. Nobody is reading anything into whether you participate or not, but reducing your tax bill is not a benefit to scoff at. If you’re afraid of the equity market now, invest it in fixed income, or they probably have a Stable Value Fund.
@Dave_N, I think I heard on Bloomberg the other day that a Bitcoin Futures Contract was approved. Much safer than shorting. I also think Matt Levine’s newsletter, a great resource, btw, discussed the Futures Contract. I’ve got some stuff to do for a while, but start here: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-11-23/the-uncertain-future-of-bitcoin-futures
Yup. That sent bitcoin to new highs and then a big dip.
When you are 54 and fully vested - employer’s match is basically a 50% - 100% immediate return on investment. Plus S&P 500 pays a 2%+ dividend. Even if there will be a 20% correction how can you go wrong?
This company match is part of your compensation - by not claiming it you just leave money on the table.
Wow! My Bitcoin investment is up about 35% since I bought in on November 20!! My $100 is worth $135!! Maybe $125 after fees if I cash out now!
If you don’t have a company match, I am not sure how much benefit there is in 401k contributions. Although you don’t pay taxes on the 401k contributions and it accumulates tax free, when you withdraw from it, all of it is taxed as ordinary income.
@Dave_N That’s sweet that you apologized. If you look many pages back, you will see we discussed the state of SS extensively on this thread, iterating 4 or 5 options we have. I really don’t think it is political. Discussing SS and medicare is quite pertinent to the retirement thread. We will all be getting it in retirement.
Let’s hope so. Will our kids, though? 
Yes, they will. It’s not that big an adjustment needed if they get to it soon. They could reduce current benefits, do means testing, increase the benefit age a little and increase SS wage a little.
DH and I aren’t counting SS in our retirement money (we’re late 50s) and in good financial shape.
We decided years ago when the kids were launched to give them the maximum financial gift allowed each year with the caveat of it would be invested in retirement funds (converted to Roth since they’re in their early earning years).
Our reasonings are that 1) we’d like to be alive while they benefit from our gifts as opposed to an inheritance and 2) we’ve benefitted from starting retirement funds in our early 20s and want the same for them, but realize cash is tight in the early professional years.
Thank you. I was just so annoyed to see this new forced participation requiring opt out. I almost deleted the email, thinking it did not apply to me. Will give it more thought.
Cboe Says It Will Start Bitcoin Futures Trading on Dec. 10, Giving it a Week of Exclusivity
“.I was just so annoyed to see this new forced participation requiring opt out.” - In general, I think that it’s a good policy (assuming the opt out process is easy). It will definitely encourage the procrastinators to save. It’s doubtful that anybody will notice what you decide.
Yahoo is now running articles on how to “invest” in bitcoin.
An asset with absolutely nothing behind it, stored on a computer somewhere, with no traceable ownership when it gets stolen, increased in price 10,000x in six years… what could go wrong?
I’ll let y’all know when my MIL asks me if she should buy some, that’ll be the signal to get out. 
Tulip mania all over again.
The first bitcoin transaction was a guy in 2010 who bought 2 pizzas for 10,000 BTC.
I hope the pizza shop owner kept them, because they’d be worth over $100,000,000 today.
As soon as I am eligible for 401k participation and matching, I will do the amount for the match. As another said, it is leaving money on the table. I encourage many of my co-workers to do the amount for the match, and explain to them how the 401k works. Our health care facility just provides the paperwork and computer links - although employees could call corporate HR if they wanted to discuss with someone (many are confused and if the work FT and have a family, just don’t take the time to call HR during M-F business hours). I was PHR (Professional in Human Resources) and was the point of contact for our 401k in my prior work with a physician group - so I understood the investment choices that were offered with our plan through Principal.
Speaking of 401(k), Mr. B’s stash is being moved to a new Fidelity account. Forced rebalancing of sorts. This is the third time it is happening. No wonder he does not rebalance voluntarily.
Psst… I heard that Crypto Kitties are the next big thing in crypto investments… 
http://fortune.com/2017/12/04/blockchain-cryptokitties-ethereum/
Fun facts about bitcoin, sorry if repeats.
Current bitcoin mining uses more electricity than 20 European countries. The cost of this electricity is at least 1.5B per year. In the current trend continues, and of course, it cannot, bitcoin mining will consume more electricity than the US in a relatively short time.
Yes, Virginia, we have a bubble.
Unfortunately, it’s quite easy to go broke predicting when the bubble will burst.