401K at work or rental property?

[Brandon Holtzinger]

I was listening to the Lifestyles podcast and he said that people investing in real estate should not invest into their works 401K but invest in rental properties.

Lets just throw an example out there. If you were looking to buy your first or second rental house/duplex etc and you were at a $40,000 per year job where your company matched .50 on the $1 up to 6% (I use these numbers b/c talking to several friends this is about what is offered in my area)

Do you take the free .50 on the $1 and invest in your 401k or do you take that money (lets assume that you can be dedicated and actually put that money back) and use it to grow your real estate portfolio faster.