So what’s the best order?

- 401(k) match

- HSA Max

- Roth IRA Max

- 401(k) Max

?

What do you mean? I thought there was no substitute for experience? And I know a senior American Captain who is currently on marriage 5!

Does he take home less than a first year regional FO? I can’t imagine what 4 divorces would do to his bank account

Maybe he learned about pre-nups from the first one. Apparently didn't learn much else. Good God, why would anyone do that to themselves?

Depends entirely on your personal circumstances.

Generally if you have a match available, contribute what you need to get the max company match, otherwise you're leaving money on the table.

Majors tend to have a 15-16% direct contribution, not a match, so you don't have to contribute anything. You can contribute in addition to the company contribution but if you're going to end with a huge 401k at retirement, you will have unavoidable mandatory distributions starting at age 70, which could literally be larger than your annual income while working. That would put you in a very large tax bracket. For that reason sometimes it's better to do other things with your discretionary money than 401k contributions. Probably not an issue until you're at a major. It's hard math but CFPs know how to figure it out for you.

Soooo....

Has anyone that has basically the same income and circumstances as last year done a last year vs this year comparison?

My income this year was virtually identical to last year and I managed to keep an extra 1500 this year.

Thank you for the non political answer

Once folks start filing, I'd like to hear from someone whose income stayed the same and who owns a house that they bought at least two years ago.

Similar income, similar expenses... what's the result?

My effective tax rate for 2018 compared to 2017 is 10.8 vs 12.4 and when I ran my 2017 numbers through 2018’s new tax law brackets the difference is greater, 10.4 vs 12.4.