is a 401 k better or an ira 
generally a 401 k is better because it has higher contribution limits no income qualifications like a roth ira and most employers offer a matching contribution however 401 k s are only offered by employers and not all offer them if you don t have access to a 401 k then an ira is a great alternative keep in mind that you can contribute to both a 401 k and an ira the bottom lineone of the most popular features of a 401 k retirement plan is the matching contribution from an employer which is essentially free money a ksop works in the same fashion but rather than the employer matching your contribution with cash it matches with stock this helps create liquidity in the market for the company s stock as well as incentivizes employees so that the company does well and the stock price increases 