Intially in my divorce, I haggled over a 401K my ex had through his place of work as "our" retirement. At one point I let it go and walked away with considerable loss. He was making over four times what I was and had the 401K money also. Three years later-- he lost his big money job, has moved three times into lesser and lesser homes, is currently unemployed, has cashed in HIS retirement money to live on, and on and on. I have MY place, my own retirement started, my job still, and peace and serenity with NO money problems. It really is true that they can go down really fast once they cross a certain threshold in addiction. I would go for whatever breaks any ties at once. Good luck in your decision, Duet.