<prompt> Human: While I expect the title to scare some people off and garner anger in others, if you are willing to follow along I hope to have some worthwhile discussion. Instead of my 10th discussion on the day about suggesting a first credit card or how to pay off student loans, I figured this might be a good topic to have. For what must be the 100th time, I saw this posted in this sub again today. It is repeated again and again around here that IRA and 401k maxing should occur before taxable savings, before frivolous spending on items such as vacations and cars, and before prioritizing other spending in the short-term. But have you maxed your IRA401k already?? is a response to nearly all questions related to spending money. I was encouraged that a few people shot back and disagreed over these posts I have seen, but this isnt always the case. Retirement savings are great, there is no questioning that, but charts like those arent always helpful. While they sometimes apply, I hate that they have become blanket advice. I, personally, have no desire to max my 401k. I save about 10kyr in it, even though I know I could save more the whole 18k if I wanted. Id like to share my reasoning on the topic, and maybe why you should feel the same way. First off, for many people saving 18k pre-tax and 5.5k post tax and double for couples is not remotely an option. However, lets pretend it is for a moment. Lets say we have a couple that makes 80kyr 40keach. Each adult maxes both their Roth IRA 11k and 401k 36k but has no other long-term savings. They each have a 6-mo emergency fund 12-mo total and stable jobs. While they live comfortably, they never have much extra money for vacations, leisure, and fun. They cook cheaply, own cheaper cars, and live minimally. However, they feel good about themselves because they have always been taught to save, save, save. Lets say they first start saving out of college at the age of 25, and save until they are 62 when they happily retire earlier than many.At age 62, they will have 3 main sources of income. Their Roth IRA, 401k, and Social Security. We can argue over the longevity of SS if you wish, but for this example, it will be around with similar benefits as today. Not expanded nor cut as is usual political discussion. The happy couple stuck to their plan and saved 18k and 5.5k each every year. This is rather conservative as the contribution limits will certainly rise in the next 40 years, but lets pretend they wont and they still contribute 18k all the way until they retire. To make up for that, lets say they each have a 2 match from their employer. Nothing extravagant, but certainly helpful. Here is how much money the couple with have at age 62 assuming generic retirement calculations:Pre-tax 401ks: 6.7MPost-tax Roth IRA: 1.9MSS Assuming 25-year post retirement life of both spouses: 1.3MNow to get this all back to pre-tax, lets say you paid 20 effective tax on Roth IRA contributions. This is certainly reasonable since it is money off your highest income bracket. That then becomes about 2.4M 1.90.8 leaving you with an effective value of 10.4 million pre-dollars for retirement at age 62, all pre-tax. Conservatively drawing 4 of your retirement funds SS will leave you with 415kyr of income. Now clearly this is in future money. The numbers I have used will occur in 2052. So we must calculate how much money that is today to get a real grasp on it. Using 3 inflationyear we track back to todays dollars of 145,000. So next time before you tell someone who is really excited about their first home, their first nice 15k car, or blowing 5k on a trip to Europe to live their dream that they shouldnt do it, ask yourself this. Will they really need 145kyr in 2016 dollars at retirement? After all, thats nearly double what our hypothetical couple is making. And should they sacrifice those unneeded expenses today to be very well off in the future with maybe less reason to spend due to health concerns and aging?Happy Saturday, enjoy your food for thought. Id love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to pick apart the math, tell me I dont understand something, or whether you tend to agree and wish people placed less stress in the sub about maxing accounts and more on letting the many 20 something asking for advise live a little. Cheers.  <response>: Thank you! I needed this.I understand that PF is all about maximizing your money, budgeting, and investing, but there has to be a balance.You should enjoy your money throughout your life, not just when youre retired. 