401k or investment account?

Hi all, I’ve had this question for a while.

I’m 24 and will complete 2 years at my first job soon. The salary is great (first year and a half 90k, half of second year at almost 100k) but my dad keeps trying to hammer home to me how important it is to put money away in my Roth 401k, so I do. In less than two years, I’ve put in about $43k and have also made about 10k on those investments.

The thing is, I don’t have that much money in my checking account. Because I’ve been putting away about 35% of each paycheck, my balance in my checking account pretty much doesn’t change with my expenses. I’ve been at about $10k in my checking account for almost a year it feels like.

I can see how my money is growing in my 401k and that’s great, but I can’t access it till I’m 65? In a few years I’d have enough in there to put a down payment on a good house in my area, but then would have to “borrow” money from myself?

So my question is, why do people use 401ks and not just regular investment accounts? It seems like an easier way to get liquid quicker.

I think also part of the reason I’m asking this is because my company’s matching is so bad (like maybe 2%?). But my point still kind of stands, why is my money in an account I can’t touch till I’m in my 60s? With the way the world is going, I kinda want that money sooner rather than later because who knows if there will be a later.

Sorry for this silly question, but I was just wondering.

#asklemon8 #letschat