Retirement Acct vs Brokerage Acct

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I've heard lots of different things on this. It's always good to have a healthy retirement account with a good stream of funding especially when you're in your 20s. I've heard of maxing your 401(k), Roth IRA (if you qualify), and continually maintaining a good reserve on emergency savings. The remainder can be play money or put into a brokerage account so that the money can do actual "work" as opposed to a savings account which today yields next to nothing.

I personally maintain a brokerage account alongside my retirement and emergency savings. I'm keeping the brokerage account around for short-term investing. I do plan to eventually sell the investments in the brokerage account in a few years, which by then I hope is a healthy enough balance for a down payment on a home.

I don't see anything egregious here but I do have two points I want to emphasize:

1. Don't skimp on the emergency account. For most single individuals six months of essential spending is the rule of thumb unless you have other backup plans. You also want to mentally sequester it, but not so far away that it's inaccessible. The idea is that its far enough away that you can't drunkenly spend it on bottle service during a night out, but close enough that if you need to replace your car this week you can do so. Making an extra 2% a year is great until you can't get to your money or need to tap a different account with tax implications or whatnot for cash
2. Evaluate the quality of your 401k account. It almost never makes sense to give up company match if you think there's any chance you'll be around to vest. (vesting schedules vary--know yours)  That's free money after all. Beyond that you need to look at the plans and offerings.  I've worked for a place that offered me an otherwise closed mutual fund in the Institutional share class that used to normally require $1M+ to get into when it was offered. Existing investors could still put more into the A shares at an extra 40 bps a year more than I pay and a ~6% front end load. I've also worked at places that have been sued because of their 401k offerings and fees.  Don't assume all 401ks are equal, because they are most definitely not. Some will blow IRAs out of the water, some will sink like a lead balloon.

EDIT: oh 2a. Some places will also offer a Roth 401k. In most aspects its similar to a Roth IRA with just a few differences making it comply with 401k rules.

As always, not financial advice, consult a financial professional, your mileage may vary, yada, yada, yada.

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