re: At what age did you reach the $50K and $100K mark in your 401(K)?

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Some of you guys haven't hit a huge downturn in the market yet. It also looks like some of you started investing when the market was down. I can see your optimism. My experience is most companies offer limited choices in their 401Ks. If you have the knowledge like some of the guys on this Money Board do then invest in a Roth IRA where your investment options are limitless. You can still invest the company minimum to get your match but if all your money is in a company sponsored 401K you will likely feel a market downturn. That's just my opinion as an old timer. Good luck.

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Correct on my part. I got out of the service in 08 and started then, so the largest portion of my contributions came after the market started up (not intentional, just the way it worked). And correct again on the options, I like the Vanguard approach. The best I have in my 401k account is a S&P 500 index fund. It has a low expense ratio and beat the rest of the options the last 2 years. I have been begging our benefits department to switch us over to Vanguard, but no luck yet. Until then, I am just keeping it in the index fund and limiting what I give the brokers.