457 v 403b v 401k?

[btbrors]

We have decided to stop maxing out all of our tax deferred savings due to unpaid maternity leave coming up.

We currently have access to:
self- 401k (uses a s&p 500 index)
spouse- 403b at fidelity
spouse- 457 with institutional vanguard indexes and barclays indexes

All three have exp ratios under .2% and I can make our asset allocation work with any mix of them.

We'll be dropping down to about $12,500/yr total in all three of these. I will put about $2500 in the 401k to receive the company match. Where would you put the other $10k?

What are some of the pros/cons when comparing the 3 different types of accounts? I thought the 457 had some lenient withdrawl rules, but I wasn't sure. We are 28 (self) and 30 (spouse) if it helps.

(We will still continue to fund our Roth IRAs, after tax investments, and we both have a pension.)

Thanks!!

[maddythebeagle]

Well, if you want to retire early, I would do the 457 after you get the match from your 401k...you can get money out of the 457 at separation of service without age limit...

[yakers]

I agree with MTB, the 457 looks good. It sounds like you actually have a decent 403b, most are pretty bad, but I do not see any advantage to the 403b over the 457 with Vanguard.

[btbrors]

Perfect! Thanks to both of you. I thought there was that funny rule in the 457. We'll do that! Thanks!

(And yes, we are very lucky, all three plans are terrific)