<prompt> Human: Im considered a Highly Compensated Employee by the IRS income is 115k. As such, my employer subjects me to 8 pre-tax and 6 post-tax contribution limits. Presently Im contributing 8 pre-tax and 0 post-tax. Since theres no employer-match benefit, I cannot hit the IRS 17,500 annual limit. As a side note, my income level is also too high to allow a Roth IRA contribution. I have a Roth IRA but Im no longer allowed to contribute to it. My employer does have a pension plan on top of the 401k, perhaps in lieu of offering any sort of 401k match benefit. This pension plan is completely out of my hands, however.Question: Should I throw in the additional 6 post-tax to my 401k? I cant help but get the feeling Uncle Sam is double dipping. I feel it might be better to invest this money in a standard trading account, perhaps in something like an ETF with a low expense ratio. Uncle Sam still double-dips but at least this way Id have access to the money before retirement without any penalties should I ever wantneed it.  <response>: Im also a HCE by IRS standards, and I think youd be better off going with a backdoor Roth IRA and then putting money in after tax investments. From what Ive read, post-tax contributions arent necessarily that great 