The 401K lets you reduce your taxable income by deferring taxes to when you retire/withdraw from it. From a tax benefit perspective, you get the most benefit out of it when you make over 52K for singles and 104K for married (and assuming you are the only income-earner).
Since there's no employer match and if it's just you, there's almost no benefit under 52K. You are already in a low 10-12% tax bracket and could probably use more money now than later.
Since there's no employer match and if it's just you, there's almost no benefit under 52K. You are already in a low 10-12% tax bracket and could probably use more money now than later.