Greetings, Jim, and welcome.

<<As I retire from the military at 38, I will begin my new life with an excellent private company in July. One "benefit" offered is the 401k, with full employer matching contributions up to the annual max.

Perhaps I'm not Foolish enough yet but I can find no flaw in participating. Pre-Tax contributions that are doubled by the employer sound pretty good.

Should I skip the 401K and add the contributions to the Foolish 4 or keep it on the side? The second seems better to me.>>

Around Fooldom, we believe contributing to an employer's retirement plan like a 401k to get the maximum match from that employer is a very Foolish thing to do. That's an immediate, tax deferred, riskless return on your investment that we call Found Money. Even in a mediocre 401k fund, it is tough to beat in anything else. In your case with a full match up to $10K (mighty generous, that), it can't be touched anywhere else. Forget The Foolish Four and grab it!

Regards….Pixy