I always recommend to individuals who have a 401(k) plan available at work, looking at what your 401(k) contribution percentage is in January to make sure you are not contributing too much and hitting the annual maximum too early on in the year while also making sure you're getting your full match. For instance, I recently recommended that a 52-year-old client decrease her contribution from the amount she wanted — which was $20,006 upfront and 15% for the year ($14,506) regularly monthly deferral plus the maximum catch up of $7,500 so she could match with her company's full 6%, evenly over all months instead of maxing out by September and missing four months of matching and saving.
At InCorp Asia, I focus mainly on helping the teams to get the most value from their employee benefits, especially retirement plans like 401(k) auto-escalation and age-50 catch-up contributions in a planned way. For example, I once advised a customer to start the year with a minimum contribution rate and then increase it gradually, allowing employees to reach the full employer match by mid-year. This way makes the increase more manageable while making sure that the employees don't miss out on free employer contributions. Over the time, it helps stronger long-term growth through compounding returns. It's thus a simple technique but can significantly improve retirement outcomes when applied consistently.