Increase the 401(k) contribution from my paycheck

My pre-tax contribution is up to 7% now. 3% is matched dollar-for-dollar by my employer, and another 3% is matched 50 cents on the dollar. Not bad. That, combined with (A) the power of compounding and (B) some shrewd asset allocations, and my balance has zoomed up in a very short time. Hurrah!

My current 401(k) contribution is 3% (with 100% matching funds by my employer). I am awaiting two scheduled raises, one of them more than a year overdue—and thus, retroactive). As soon as the new raises kick in, I plan to raise my withholding to 6% for the remainder of 2006. (Contributions between 3% and 6% are matched 50% by my employer.)

If all goes well - i.e., my expenses don’t increase dramatically over the rest of this year, and next year’s raises come on schedule - I plan to go up to 10% in March or April 2007.

My investment allocations should - I repeat, should - yield me between 10% and 15% this year. Perhaps even between 15% and 20%. Ah, the magic of compound interest ! See also here . And here .