[uptown]

How on Earth can you speak about the intelligence of contributing to a 401k if you didn't know their tax benefits?

[mtrimpe]

Not everyone on Earth is an American :)

As wpietri correctly assumed, I thought that a 401k was by definition a managed fund and my comment was directed at managed funds in general.

[rhc2104]

Also, after switching employers, you can roll your 401k over to an IRA and invest in whatever you want.

[wpietri]

It wasn't my comment, but I suspect his focus was more on the managed funds that most people use in 401ks rather than the 401k account type itself.

That's a reasonable suspicion. Warren Buffett's involved in a million-dollar bet on the same topic: http://longbets.org/362/