<prompt> Human: I know there is a benefit to it if the employer matches, but after that whats the point of putting more into it if youre adamant on retiring at an earlier age lets say 40 before the age requirement. Lets say I want to be financially independent. Would it be better to fully invest in stocks or any other non-retirement accounts that do not have a penalty fee?I would definitely love to retire early, so Im not too entirely sure if a 401k is worth anything. Even if an employer were to match my contribution of 4, what good would that even do if I wanted to cash it all out early in life would there any gain even with the contribution.  <response>: If your plan is to be dead by age 5912 dont bother with with the 401k. 