This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/AfternoonNo7453 on 2026-04-02 03:04:14+00:00.
I received my first big bonus ever. However I didn't know that its on employees to temporarily turn off any 401k auto contributions beforehand. My impression was that bonuses aren't treated like normal income. I posted about this in r/AskHR and got blasted because this is supposedly common knowledge? Didn't know, but now I learned my lesson. It sucks too because my HR even admitted to making the mistake of not making a proper announcement ahead of time for employees to do so. Now a big chunk of it is in my 401k and I can't pull it out without being penalized.
Never learned this in school nor at any point in my career. So to anyone else who has yet to receive a bonus in their job, just know that it's on you to turn off contributions beforehand. Don't rely that HR will make a timely announcement too, like in my case mine admitted to failing to do so.
TL;DR: Didn't know I had to turn off my 401k contributions before receiving a bonus. Now a big chunk is locked away.
Edit: people are commenting assuming I wanted the money for entertainment. I wanted the money on hand to pay down high interested student debt I have. Cost of living is at an all time high and so I was hoping I'd be able to pay down a significant amount now.
Edit 2: my company does not offer match contributions
Edit 3: thanks for all the supportive comments everyone. Yes it kind of sucks that a chunk was unexpectedly put into 401k, but in the long run it will benefit me with.
edit 4: I've learned r/askHR is full of miserable jerks who love to hammer down on people. Don't ever post in that sub without expecting to be treated like an idiot.