<prompt> Human: Im planning on getting to 17.5k this year in my 401k- but Im curious what happens when I hit this number in say late november? Do i need to alter my contributions so i stop contributing? or does any excess get paid back to me as plain-old income?  <response>: Do i need to alter my contributions so i stop contributing?Ask your HR department. Sometimes you need to stop it, sometimes theyll stop it automatically. 