You are young money put away now will have a much bigger impact on your retirement account at 65 than money put away 10 years from now.

I think the most you can put into a 401k in 2007 is 15,000 (I might be a couple hundred low, but that doesn't matter to much.

Assuming you get a gig at 45, you could put 33% in there, that is incredibly high but you can do it.

Rather than aiming for a certain percentage, put as much as you can in. If you can afford 33% do it, but if you can't do not.

You do not want to put so much that your covering living with debt.

Most companies have a match at the minimum you should but in the match. If your company will match 6% and you only put in 5 you have just passed up 1% of your annual salary, for free.

That being said, I put 11% of mine in :-)

I think it depends on your situation. Take me for instance. I'm about to buy a house so I'm only putting in 10% and I make about the same as you. I could probably do a little more as well such as 12%. A lot of people will say to put in as much as the company will allow. At least put in that percent to where the company will match. But I think 10-15% is normal.

Consider investing about 10-15% in your 401k; it sounds like a lot, but trust me, once you start doing it, you don't even miss the extra cash. And the more you sock away now, the less you have to save overall to still retire a millionaire. Consider investing in the more aggressive mutual funds offered by your 401k - as a young investor you not only have more time to recover from any losses, but you stand to reap greater rewards.

Also, get down to your local library tonight and start checking out personal finance books - they can be wonderfully empowering and inspiring, and most are written in simple, easy-to-understand terms.
-The Complete Idiot's Guide to Personal Finance in your 20s and 30s
-The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Money
-"Smart Women Finish Rich" ot "The Automatic Millionaire", by David Bach
-any Suzy Orman books

The amount investment firms suggest you save for retirement varies. The minimum you should save (assuming you will not rely on a pension or Social security) is 10% of your salary. This is including your employer 401K match (if any).

I always recommend to people to save 10% of their salary, not taking into account any employer matching on their 401K.

I recommend investing the money in the following manner:

1. Invest only enough in your 401K to get the matching employer contribution, no more, no less. If your employer matches the first 5%, only invest 5%.

2. Since you are quite young, invest in a Roth IRA. In 2006, the maximum you could invest in a ROTH IRA was $4000 per individual (it is more complicated than that, but that is the basic rule). All Roth IRA ontributions are done post-tax, but all earnings on the money are tax-free upon withdrawl (which over 40 years or so until you retire, that will save you huge money)

3. If you still have not reached the 10% after maxing out the Roth IRA, contribute more to your 401K until your contribution is maxed out.

4. If you stil have money to save, then it is a coin toss. I would suggest investing in either a taxable, non-retirement mutual fund, or a variable annuity plan. Personally, I am not a huge fan of annuities as many are complicated and don't allow you access to your money if you need it before the set date. I usually recommend investing any excess in a low cost, no-load mutual fund like from Vanguard or T. Rowe Price. Index funds tend to be cheap and offer great returns. Actively managed funds cost more (sometimes a little, sometimes a lot) than index funds and tend to be a crap shoot. Some years they do good, some years they only match the index they track.

If you are young and unmarried, I would put as much away as you can right now. If you can afford it, shoot for 15 or 20%. Saving gets harder once you get a significant other, get married, start having kids, etc... Put as much away as you can now and that will give you some breathing room later.

As far as opening a Roth IRA...I would recommend opening it with a mutual fund family that is large and has many offerings. I am a fan of Vanguard and I do most of my investing of my money and other people's money with them. T. Rowe Price is also cheap. While they may not have as many funds as Vanguard, they do have some funds with some awsome returns over a long period of time. Fidelity is a little pricy, but has a great track record. When in doubt and you don't know who to go with, go talk to your bank. Most banks have an investment department and many offer advice and will assist you for free (well for being a customer) or for very reasonable fees.

Contribute the MAX. It's a good rule to ALWAYS defer income. By the way, if they offer a Roth 401K, go for that one.

Steve is right. Go with the Roth if you can. At your age you can do ALL of your retirement savings in just a few years if you save really hard. Whatever money you invest now in index funds will most likely double every six years. If you can amass 25 grand by 30 it should be well over a mil and a half at retirement. You should be able to do that pretty easily. You are in an enviable position. I wish I had known what I know now at your age. It would be nice knowing that a major part of your life is taken care of. Then you can put your dollars into other investments that you can benefit from long before you retire. I say do 15% and get the 25k fast. From then on I'd only contribute enough to get the full match as not to leave any money on the table. A Roth 401k is a great investment tool. Use it wisely and you can do really well for yourself.

I concur with Slider728.

1. Contribute the max that your employer will match (typically 5% or so) to your 401(k).

2. Contribute to a Roth IRA ($4,000 or $5,000 is the max).

3. Contribute back to your 401(k) to max (I think $15,000 is the limit).

4. Save to an online savings account. HSBC and ING Direct have decent rates (5.05% and 4.50% APY, respectively).