Sending too much to my 401k?

[Justin O'Malley]

Hey folks,

So at the end of the year I like to assess my 401k, FSA, and saving contributions but I came across something that confuses me...

My company has a 25% match (max of $3000) for 401k contributions which from everything I've read should be my main goal to hit the max contribution of $12,000, but looking at my John Hancock account I have my retirement goal set at $90k per year and this max contribution will put me way WAY over that.

I'm currently contributing about $800/mo ($9600/year) pretax and since I am in my 20's it says that is on pace for $212k/year when I retire despite the fact that only being about 3/4 of my max match. Am I missing something here? Should I make the full $12,000/year contribution and just withdraw with the penalty after it is matched and vested?

Thanks for any input!