<prompt> Human: Im 32 and I just started saving for retirement this month. I havent prepared for retirement thus far because I was focused on paying off student debt and Ive been dealing with some personal stuff I wont go into. Im single, no kids, cohabit with a girlfriend whos 120K in debt but makes 30K. She works for a nonprofit so she can get loan forgiveness in 10 years. Thats not much comfort to me though. I love her and she pays her half of expenses but our financial outlook isnt great. Shes a huge financial liability.Anyway, back to me. Heres a breakdown of my finances.Salary: 85KSavings: 10KMonthly expenses: About 1,000Debt: 0 as of last week. Yahoo!Retirement: 0. I enrolled into my companys 401K plan this month. Im putting in 16 with a 6 company match I think. Its not very good.I rent but Id really like to own my home in the next few years. Median home price in my area is 250K.So, how do I better prepare for retirement? Should I invest more into my 401K? My company also offers a Roth. Should I invest in that too? Other investment or general financial strategies?  <response>: Heres a few points for you: Congratulations on getting out of debt! Great job, and good on you for getting down to business so fast on retirement. Around here youll often hear the the best time to invest is now. Its the truth, and you cant beat yourself up for not investing up until now. Now youre doing it, and youre better off than you would be otherwise. You really have a good company match. The norm is about 3. If you can swing it, max out your contribution to your 401k. Right now youre at 13.6k - if you up your contribution to 21 youll get to the max of 18,000. If you didnt know it before, your companys match doesnt count against the maximum you can contribute. You are not taxed on money you contribute to your 401k. Open a Roth IRA with Vanguard and contribute fully to that - its 5,500 of your taxed income that will grow tax free forever. If you cant fully fund both, then first fund your 401k up to the match limit 6, then put money into the Roth IRA, and any leftover money goes back towards the 401k. Fully funding your retirement accounts results in not being able to spend nearly 25k every year. This may conflict with saving for a house and other goals. Itll be up to you which to prioritize so long as you always contribute up to the company match in your 401k - the match is an instant 100 ROI, and youd be leaving money on the table by doing anything otherwise. My personal rule of thumb is to save at least 15 of my income, and I never recommend anything less than 10 to others. Lastly, DO NOT, DO NOT pay for your girlfriends debt. This protects both of you in case you two should go separate ways. Youll be out the money, and the creditors may find a reason to come after you if she stops paying. Its not your debt legally or ethically until youre married. You never said anything about this in your post so I dont think youre doing it, but I just want to put it out there for both of your protection. 