Contribute to 401k or save for co-invest?

Just began training in IB and was fortunate enough to land a seat in MF PE during on-cycle. I'm electing benefits now and have the option to contribute to my 401k (no company matching included). However, the PE shop I signed with has the option to co-invest, and has great historical returns

I'm considering contributing minimally to my 401k and instead dumping the money in a brokerage account so I can then co-invest once I start in PE. Would be curious to hear people's thoughts on this. 

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Point of a 401k is set and forget it until you retire. You get the tax deduction when you contribute which is a nice perk.

No match blows though. If you can get levered co-invest at your MF then honestly don’t hate the idea of contributing less to the 401k if you want to take that risk of outperforming whatever ETFs your 401k is in.

Math is pretty simple imo, is the net co-invest return high enough to outperform the S&P (you can be more tactical but let’s just use that as the reference point) + foregone tax deductions the 2+ years while you’re just in SPX + capital gains taxes to free up invested money for co-invest? Only you can answer that. 

 

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