There is also another way to look at this depending upon how skilled you are in using real estate to achieve your investment goals.
In a 401k plan you are locking away your money until you are at least 59 1/2. You are going to be at the mercy of the stock market and it's vagaries.
If you know what you are doing in real estate, you can create your own "match". It is very easy to do in single family home buy and hold. When you purchase and/or renovate a property below it's market price, you have created equity or "matched" your contribution.
( If you put 10K down and gain 5K in equity you have a 50% equity "match")
It is a capital gain, just like it would be in the 401K, but you can later access that money through lines of credit, second mortgages, or an outright sale (making it a long term capital gain at worst, or a 1031 exchange at best).
If you are renovating the property, the deductible costs of renovation will give you a tax deduction (just like your pre-tax contribution).
What people often seem to not take into account with 401K plans is that the money that you have in there is not really your money. The easiest way to prove this is to have you try and go and get it all and spend it. The average person will lose close to 40% of the value right off the bat with ordinary income taxes and penalties. Also, you may have a vesting schedule with your employer so that the "matched" funds take time to actually be "yours". So yes, it works as a forced savings vehicle but it does not materially improve your current life situation.
No one retires early "investing" in a 401K.
