Should You Cut Your 401(k) When Money Gets Tight? How to Handle Higher Prices SB1920

Social Security checks are getting a raise because everything costs more. Joe Saul-Sehy, OG, and Doug are joined by a Brooklyn financial planner who works with creative people on lumpy incomes and Jesse Cramer of Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors to ask whether you should trim retirement savings when the budget squeezes. They play “Cut It, Keep It, or Crank It” and “Who Gets the Next Dollar?” with realistic households. The goal is to keep a temporary squeeze from turning into a permanent setback.What You’ll Walk Away WithWhy a Social Security raise is both good news and a sign your costs went upWhat a single inflation number misses about how prices actually hit your householdThe first signs your budget is leaking if you have never tracked your spendingA quick way to see price changes by scrolling through your online shopping cartsWhat “enoughness” means and how to use it when prices shiftWhen to cut your 401(k) contribution, when to keep it, and why many of the panelists would hold it at the employer matchWhy it is easier to keep a small retirement contribution going than to restart a stopped oneA financial triage order for deciding where each new dollar goesWhether to pay a car repair from cash or a credit cardWhy a 401(k) loan is rarely better than pausing contributionsWhy retirement comes before college savings, even for loving parentsHow to handle lumpy income and set aside taxes before a windfall arrivesWhy asking for what you need in a negotiation costs you nothingWhy This Matters Now Prices are rising unevenly, with groceries, gas, and airfare moving in different directions, and many people are trimming retirement savings to cope. Year-end is when budgets get reset and benefit elections get made, which makes it a natural time to decide your plan before the squeeze decides it for you. This episode gives you a framework you can use without feeling judged for being behind.From the Basement Doug’s trivia goes back to a sailor in 1492 who brought smoking home to Spain and got locked up for it, then to the giant settlement that came centuries later. He also confesses to once trying to smoke a Slim Jim, and nearly gets the guest’s name right while inventing a few new words. Everyone swaps stories about their love of the Sizzler salad bar, and OG tries to hold on to his lead for the “You suck the least” trophy.Resources MentionedCreative Money: New Financial Rules for Artists, Innovators, and Misfits: the guest’s new book, out Tuesday, Nov 10Personal