<prompt> Human: Hi PF,My wife and I are 24 and live in a HCOL area NJ. Were both fortunate to have good jobs, and gross just under 150k annually. Weve built a 9 month emergency fund, and after our mandatory expenses and creature comforts, we have about 28 of our net pay leftover 24 after hitting our respective 401k matches. Wed like to buy a house in the area within 3-4 years, but the average 3-bedroom 2-bathroom in a good school district starts at 500k. Do you think it would be okay to forgo retirement contributions for the next few years aside from hitting the match in order to try and build up a big down payment?  <response>: Believe it or not, this is a very common question in this sub. Follow the steps in How to handle in the sidebar to figure out how to prioritize.Also, now is the best time to be saving for retirement, because you get the advantage of more time compounding. 