<prompt> Human: Hello,I am 24, currently making 100k per year in California. My company matches 50 of my 401k contributions. I joined my company last week, and am right out of school, so I dont have anything in my 401k yet.I have approximately 1600 in checking.My rent is 850 a month, utilities included.Here are my debts:student loans:11,787 at 7.9216,553.92 at 6.8credit cards:9,143.63 at 8.92,947.93 at 17.9loan from parents:2500 at 0Should I start contributing to my 401k first, or pay off my debts first?My paycheck is approximately 2500 post-tax, paid bi-weekly. My plan was to initially not contribute to my 401k, and focus on paying off the credit card debt. But towards the end of this year, I plan to use my last several paychecks to contribute to my 401k in full, and try to put the allowed 17,500 into my 401k my employer will match 50 of that. This allows me to tackle my credit card debt as much as possible now, while still putting my max in my 401k by year end.Is this a good idea? Any suggestions?  <response>: Double check with your HR to see if there is any percentage cap on your contributions. If you dont start until near the end of the year, youll need to use a big percentage to max it out. If they have an upper limit to the percent you can select, you might have to start earlier. 