Would You Rather Retire With a Million-Dollar Home or $1M in Your 401(k)?

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Trina Paul

Tue, February 24, 2026 at 6:42 AM GMT+9 3 min read

Key Takeaways

A 401(k) offers liquidity, flexibility, and potential for higher returns, making it the preferred choice for many financial planners.

Owning a home provides a place to live without monthly rent or mortgage payments, but comes with ongoing costs like taxes and maintenance.

In retirement, what would you prefer to have: a $1 million home or a 401(k) with $1 million invested in it?

Investopedia posed this hypothetical question to certified financial planners (CFPs), asking them what they would choose and why.

Financial planners largely chose the 401(k) option, with many pointing out that a 401(k) offered more liquidity, lower ongoing expenses, and potentially higher returns.

However, a 401(k) might not actually be the best option for everyone. If you want a place to call your own, a home might be the better choice, but if you want easy access to cash, a 401(k) may make more sense.

Investopedia breaks down the pros and cons of each and identifies the best option for you based on your preferences.

What Would You Get With a 401(k)?

A 401(k) is a type of tax-advantaged retirement account.

With a traditional 401(k), you receive a tax deduction on your initial contributions, and withdrawals are taxed at ordinary income tax rates.

401(k)s generally offer a menu of investment options, such as index funds and target-date funds.

While you’ll generally have to wait until age 59½ to tap your 401(k) to avoid paying the 10% withdrawal penalty, retirement investors typically have a great deal of flexibility in how much they’ll withdraw and when. (Though traditional 401(k)s do have required minimum distributions, so investors generally have to take withdrawals starting at age 73.)

“When thinking about retirement, liquidity is paramount. The 401(k) would be the obvious winner,” said Flavio Landivar, a senior financial advisor at Evensky & Katz / Foldes Wealth Management, in an email. “You have much more control as to when funds are sold, how much [are sold], and [if] the rest remains invested.”

What Would You Get With a Home?

A home, most importantly, offers people a place to live.

Unlike renting or paying a mortgage, you don’t have to make large monthly payments when you own a home, and you have the option of selling it for a profit if it appreciates in value.

From Q1 of 2020 to Q3 of 2025, home prices rose nearly 55% nationally, but home price appreciation varies by region and these figures don’t account for the costs of homeownership, which may involve property taxes, HOA fees, and more.

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“I would take the $1 million in the 401(k) over the home, hands down,” wrote Michelle Gessner, CFP and founder of Gessner Wealth Strategies, LLC, in an email. “Here’s why: the home requires a lot of ongoing costs such as hefty property taxes and homeowner’s insurance, repair and maintenance, and security costs so that you don’t succumb to burglary and vandalism.”

Which Should You Choose?

Ultimately, the best option for you will depend on what you want and need in retirement.

For those who want flexibility and the ability to access their money easily, a 401(k) will offer low fees, different investment options, and the option of tapping your funds whenever you want—as long as you’re age 59½.

And for those who don’t want to make rental or mortgage payments in retirement or are interested in being able to pass a home down to their heirs, homeownership may be the better choice—although this option does have drawbacks like a lack of liquidity (though you can tap into your home equity by taking out a reverse mortgage, HELOC, and more) and ongoing expenses.

Read the original article on Investopedia

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