[rprasad]

Until late in 2012, I came out ahead far more by paying down my graduate student loan debt than I did by contributing to my 401(k). However, that is because my graduate student loans are statutorily fixed at 6.5% or higher, whereas market returns have been close to zero or negative.

[muzz]

Market returns have been volatile. S&P 500 for the past few years [1]:

2012 16.00% 2011 2.05% 2010 15.06% 2009 26.46% 2008 −37.00% 2007 5.49% 2006 15.79%

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%26P_500#Total_annual_returns_...

[rprasad]

Yep, missing a word in my original comment... my net market returns were close to zero or negative until late 2012.