<prompt> Human: I want to buy a house in the near future. Should I limit my contributions to 401k and IRA to save for the down payment on a house? Also, where would one save this money for the down payment, if I plan to buy a house in 3-5 years? I mean in what type of bank account? A savings? A CD?I currently have about 5k in a emergency fund set up, and my pre tax monthly income is about 6k. I am paying 1.5k on rent utilities. Groceries restaurants will be about 300 dollars I guess. Misc will be about 200. No car, no insurance. I expect to be debt free in one month. I dont have any contribution to my down payment fund right now, and I am contributing higher than my company match to 401k and maxing out my IRA. Should I decrease my contribution to my 401k and IRA, and instead save for the down payment on the house? I could add an additional 500 - 800 dollars per month to my down payment savings if I did. Thanks for reading!  <response>: First, check out first time homeowner programs in your county. Just google and ask a realtor to get started. Second, obama is proposing reduced pmi. Keep your eye on whats happening there. Third reduce your 401k to the match. Id probably reduce my IRA to something lower than a max based on how quickly I want a house. Also estimate the amount you need and add money to it cause a house is never turnkey. There is nothing sexy you can do with the money except put it in a savings account like Ally. Good luck! 