It depends on how you will access it before retirement. If you withdraw early, you incur a 10% penalty and you pay income tax. If you borrow it from yourself, you don't have the penalty but it may impact your ability to continue to invest (see rules for your plan). That said, there is a great benefit even w/o company matching: you don't pay income tax on your contributions until you withdraw them. This lowers your taxable income, which may put you into a lower tax bracket.