401k or Real Estate?

[James Somers]

I know this may be a weird question to ask on a real estate forum (Im thinking the vast majority of responses will be pro real estate), but I wanted to get some different perspectives from the BP community.  

I currently work a full-time job and I am fortunate enough to be able to max out my pre-tax contribution to my 401k each year.  As I continue to listen to the podcast and read about people's success in real estate, I have started to ponder if contributing approximately $20k to my 401k each year is a wise investment or should I start using that money for real estate.  I also want to add that I do additional savings outside of my 401k however my ability to invest in real estate would significantly grow if I stopped contributing to my 401k.  

For reference:  I do contribute to my company's 401k so it is not a self-directed 401k, and I have always been told to at least contribute the bare minimum to get the companies match so I am not leaving money on the table.  

So BP Community, what are your thoughts?

[Jason Wray]

James,

I am no fan of 401K's coming from someone who has had thousands of customers complain how they gave up control of their money to a 401K to only lose all of their money due to bad investments of the funds. You also have no control until you hit 59.5 years of age. Not only that but you have fee's on top of fee's that eat into your money. Real Estate on the other hand offers a long term NOI eventually the mortgages will be paid off and you have a ton of equity and cash coming in every month.

Being able to manage your own money and make good decisions on market, sale price, rental schedule/income.  Using the equity to buy more investment properties for the long haul.