<prompt> Human: Hi, Im a 23 year old in my first job out of college, and I just became eligible to sign up for the 401k after starting work last fall. My company offers 401k matching, and I know that its basically free money. However, they offer staggered matching at this schedule:100 match on the first 1 50 match on the next 425 match on the next 4 after that.I realize that even a 25 guaranteed ROI is unparalleled, but I dont know if putting all 9 in right now is the best option for me since that is a significant amount of money to take out of my paycheck right now. For context, my monthly take home is about 3600 and expenses are about 2500. Of the rest, 300 is going to student loans 8500 at 6 and 5000 at 3.8 and the rest is going to shortmedium term liquid savings. I have a 7500 emergency fund set up already.If I took out 9, that would be about another 320 a month. That leaves 380month for non-retirement savings, which seems pretty decent.BUT - and heres the big but - Im currently sharing a tiny apartment with my girlfriend and another roommate. Roommate may move out soon and girlfriend and I want our own place. This will probably raise my rent by at least 400 if not more joys of bay area living, leaving no breathing room with a full match. Should I just try and match as much as possible still, or hold off until I get the living situation figured out so I can be more flexible with monthly spending?  <response>: Do the 9. Adjust your budget so you can make the 9 work. Remember it will reduce your taxable income and you might be able to adjust your withholding to make up for it some. 