ML & Retirement Contributions

[glitzy07]

I'm wondering how most people handled their retirement contributions during maternity leave, more specifically if you didn't have paid leave.

My maternity leave will be covered by a combination of STD, PTO and possibly a few weeks unpaid if I decide to do a full 12 week leave. We plan on continuing a combination of debt repayment and saving, with more of an emphasis on saving, until the baby comes in July.

If things were tighter than you would like once the baby was born, would you suspend 401K/Roth contributions for the duration of your maternity leave if it meant you could take an additional 2-3 weeks at home with the baby before returning to work? Or would it not be worth it to you to miss out on 12 weeks of contributions?

ETA: At this point, I'm hoping to continue things as normal and keep contributing as I do now to my 401k and Roth. But I'm weighing if it's worth it to me to have a bit more cushion in the bank for a full 12 week leave.

[pamela]

I don't remember if retirement was taken out of my check. I know I didn't have the option to decide. If I had the option I probably would have opted out if it meant I could have stayed home longer, but money wasn't the deciding factor on when I went back. 12 weeks of contributions in the long run isn't that big of a deal to me.

[karinothing]

Yes during my paid leave. No during my unpaid leave.

[catbus]

No, I halted contributions and plan to restart when I return. I had enough PTO to cover three full paychecks from work (1.5 months), and I calculated that pausing my contributions to my Roth 401(k) would effectively net me an extra paycheck's worth of money.
Edit: I haven't had a paycheck since 10/31 and we've yet to have to dip into savings, so I think I made the right choice for our situation.

[glitzy07]

Dec 6, 2012 14:40:44 GMT -5 catbus said:

No, I halted contributions and plan to restart when I return. I had enough PTO to cover three full paychecks from work (1.5 months), and I calculated that pausing my contributions to my Roth 401(k) would effectively net me an extra paycheck's worth of money.
Edit: I haven't had a paycheck since 10/31 and we've yet to have to dip into savings, so I think I made the right choice for our situation.

This is kind of what I'm hoping for (not dipping into savings). In the event that I don't use more than a day or two of PTO between now and the birth, I'll have enough vacation to supplement STD and cover approximately 10 weeks fully paid. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep our savings in tact and take a full 12 weeks.

If I did suspend contributions, I think it would basically cover the two weeks I'd be taking unpaid. And I would absolutely return right back to normal as soon as I was back to work.

[whitepicketfence]

Dec 6, 2012 14:46:06 GMT -5 glitzy07 said:

Dec 6, 2012 14:40:44 GMT -5 catbus said:

No, I halted contributions and plan to restart when I return. I had enough PTO to cover three full paychecks from work (1.5 months), and I calculated that pausing my contributions to my Roth 401(k) would effectively net me an extra paycheck's worth of money.
Edit: I haven't had a paycheck since 10/31 and we've yet to have to dip into savings, so I think I made the right choice for our situation.

This is kind of what I'm hoping for (not dipping into savings). In the event that I don't use more than a day or two of PTO between now and the birth, I'll have enough vacation to supplement STD and cover approximately 10 weeks fully paid. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep our savings in tact and take a full 12 weeks.

If I did suspend contributions, I think it would basically cover the two weeks I'd be taking unpaid. And I would absolutely return right back to normal as soon as I was back to work.

In this case, I would probably suspend your contributions while on leave.

As for what I did, I don't really recall. I only had a ML with DD1 as I've been a SAHM since. I know I used my banked PTO time to take a few weeks off before my due date and I'm pretty sure I had retirement contributions taken out during that time. When unpaid leave kicked in, I think my contributions were automatically suspended by my company. I remember having to write them a check monthly to pay my portion of the health insurance premium though.

[lmb5109]

My company does not take out 401K while I'm on STD but I will have them taken out while I'm on PTO

[kittycatlove]

Dec 6, 2012 14:23:42 GMT -5 karinothing said:

Yes during my paid leave. No during my unpaid leave.

This exactly.

[Deleted]

I had it taken out of my STD and PTO checks just like normally, but I didn't contribute extra to make up for the few weeks I didn't get paid. I still made my monthly Roth contribution though.