An alternative option, though, is to max out the 401k contribution for the year, earn the 3 % employer
match (suppose for the sake
of the example that it's fully vested), and then withdraw the whole account at the end
of the year early, penalty and all (assume also for the sake
of the example that value
of the acct doesn't substantially
change over the
course of the year — I don't want that to be a factor in my hypothetical question).