Originally Posted by
3stripes
Thanks for the help guys. I'll definitely be taking the disability.
Regarding the 401k, it just doesn't work for our situation. We are intending to move to the UK when we have kids and 401ks don't transfer. We have UK pension plans going already and my wife has a very good 401k with her company just in case. Our financial advisor has set us up with a pretty sweet deal specifically for our situation, so it wouldn't make too much sense to take the 401k option. Although it does sting a bit knowing that we're essentially turning down additional long term income from the company.
I still have to ask...you are going to be getting free money from the company even if you don't add a penny of your own. What does your financial advisor say about that? Seriously, you are going to end up with company money that belongs to you anyway, so get the most you can out of them. To me, the double taxation issue (in the future) is really only on your contribution and earnings, the rest is taxation on the free money given to you by the company.
Plus, if you leave XJT, which I assume you will want to do at some point, you can roll all that money over into an IRA. Are there issues with having an IRA and living in the UK? I think you really need to consider this as just extra money even if you are concerned about the tax ramifications.