[eggzz]

Can someone please clear up a misconception I have in regard to this statement/piece of advice one routinely hears in regard to 401ks:

"You should always max out your contribution to your company 401k"

My company offers what I believe is industry standard, a 3% match. For the first 5 years with my company, I contributed 6% of my income, and received the maximum company contribution I could get.

So am I or am I not maxing my 401k contribution? And when I ask that I ask in terms of what you normally hear from advice givers.

Or, since my company allows me to contribute up to 18% of my salary to my 401k, am I woefully undercontributing?

FWIW, I also contribute $2,000/yr to a Roth IRA and I also contribute $2,000 to an ExxonMobil DRIP. I realize people would tell me to maximize my Roth IRA contribution and I understand that, but that is not what I'm asking here.

I can probably afford to squeeze some more money into one of those three investments that I am involved in. So second question is, which one would you throw $ into if you were me?

If you need more background, I am 35 years old, single/head of household, one 5 year old child, live with significant other, make high $50's in salary, no debt other than house, and a small HELOC.

Thx.