<prompt> Human: How do you balance putting money into your IRA and 401k, while saving money for a house? Im 25, dont make enough to do all 3.. im not necessarily trying to buy a house soon but i keep hearing its a smart move financially. Is it best to buy a house by the time im 35 or so?  <response>: I agree and disagree with the comments here. I am an accountant and financial analyst, which I figure out risk of money. Owning a home can help lower your financial risks big time in the long run. However, there is a catch! You need to get a home you can afford to put 20 percent down, at the very least, that gets rid of PMI money that is just thrown away pretty much and helps reduce your monthly. Then you will want to pay the house off as quick as possible to beat interest and get rid of that monthly cost. Lastly, you need to think of that house as a home, a shelter, not some stupid investment that is going to beat the stock market some how. Having a house is to live in, not to gamble with. Therefore, get as small as possible that is comfortable to you and for your future, but be real about it in the sense that you dont need 2342 rooms and 23423 bathrooms, you might be fine with a 3 bedroom and 2 bath if you want a family with 2 kids. The old saying buy more house than you need is complete crap! That is some last generation dumb right there. Get a cheaper, more affordable home and get it paid down right away. A smaller home also reduces maintenance costs and will be able to reduce your cost of living significantly, which then you can invest that cost savings. In addition, if you are unlucky and loss your job in the future, if your home is paid off, you can take a much lower paying job and still live just fine. Unlike if you are relying on paying rent which will continue to increase forever. Having control of that cost is a powerful factor to financial success.I hate to say this, but you may want to reduce what you are putting in your IRA and 401k, just a bit! to be able to save up for the house. I hate saying that because those two investment vehicles are the best for your future, along with having a paid off house. I would try extremely hard not to lower those funds by looking at all other expenses in your life, maybe getting rid of Netflix and keeping hulu, but we have no insight into your budgets. If you can, try to find the savings in other things, but either way do not reduce your 401k and IRA contributions to zero, keep pumping money in those. If you do reduce contributions a bit or find cuts in your expenses, then put that money into a good Index fund, like Fidelity Index 500, which has no min requirement and a low expense ratio of 0.015. If you are not looking to buy right away, then even 50 bucks to 100 bucks a month in an index fund following the market will help you significantly grow a lump sum in 10 years to put down on a house. Overall, good luck and I can try to answer any questions you have. 