It's 3 AM. Do you know where your money is?

I just discovered something really cool. 

Did you know that you can contribute up to $53K to your 401K every year, $35K of which can be transferred to your ROTH IRA? The $5.5K limit doesn't necessarily have to apply after all! Here's how it works:

1) You contribute up to $18K to your 401K (pre tax money)
2) Your employer kicks in the company match (pre tax money)
3) Depending on your employer, you can then contribute a certain percentage of your annual salary to your 401K after tax money bucket. Once a year, (if your employer allows), you then do an in-service withdrawal by transferring your 401K after tax money to your ROTH IRA. You may not receive a tax break with Roth IRAs (since contributions are made with after tax money), but earnings and withdrawals are generally tax-free. 

This is called the Mega Backdoor ROTH IRA. The College Investor has a more detailed explanation.

FYI, this is different from the Backdoor ROTH IRA, which allows you to contribute $5.5K to your ROTH IRA even if you earn above the income limit. I'll let you know if I ever learn of a MEGA STUPENDOUS SUPER TOTALLY AWESOME BACKDOOR ROTH IRA.  

Apparently, only 10% of US companies allow employees to do both steps in #3 so this isn't something that everyone can do. But you should check!
 
My investment accounts now look like the following:
1) Managed investment account with a robo-advisor
2) ROTH IRA account with a robo-advisor - this should look turbocharged from now on!
3) 401K account (with both pre tax and post tax money)
4) Health Savings Account ($3,400 max now but if the new Republican American Health Care Act passes, this could be increased to at least $6,550 for individuals). 

Being financially responsible feels pretty great. And if anything happens, I'll just remember that there's always money in the banana stand!