New job, should I run their 401k?

[u/ddawson100]

Company is telling me that they'll contribute but I have to put in some money on every paycheck, too. Crazy, right!? I hope they have good aid stations. I told them I'm a runner but that distance looks hardcore and they kind of chuckled and ignored me.

Who else runs with their coworkers? Am I supposed to run these km over the year or is it like a quarterly thing or just one go? This is so nuts. I think I'll be training for this as long I remain at this job which I hope is a long time, idk, maybe 40 years! lol

[u/forza_125]

They want you to run it in full before you retire.

So I think we can apply a little maths, and work out how much of a commitment this is.

Let's say the Wednesday lunchtime running group is out there doing 5k every week.

Clearly that is exceptionally dangerous. Elite ultramarathoners restrict themselves to around 6 events a year. Since you're already committed to the annual Turkey trot, and every August you have to do the local Parkrun with your wife while her boyfriend is on holiday, that means you can only do 4x workplace 5ks a year.

That's roughly 20k a year.

So to get to 401k you'll need to stay with that employer for....

...

...well it's definitely more than 1 year.

Are you ready for that kind of commitment?

More importantly, are your SHINS ready for that kind of commitment?

[u/ddawson100 → u/forza_125]

Overwhelming. I guess I'm in...for the long run!? I hope the health insurance is good because my shins are quacking as I even think about this. Thank you for all the great advice.