Are you one of the fortunate ones that works for a company that matches part of what you contribute to your 401k? If you are, I hope you are taking full advantage of this benefit. You can’t afford not to be contributing to your 401k when your company offers to match all or part of what you contribute.

I’ve worked for a few different employers that provided a 401k match benefit. Sometimes it’s complicated to understand exactly what they are matching. I’ve seen where it’s a 50% match up to 3% of your salary – which means that if you put 3% of your salary into your 401k the company will match half of that, or 1.5% or your salary.

I’ve also seen really good benefits where the company will match 100% of up to 6% of your salary. So that means that if you make $50,000 a year and you put in your 6% ($3,000) the company will also put in $3,000. That is a great benefit that you can’t afford to miss… that’s $3k/year!

Some companies will even give you incentives to contribute to your 401k. As if their matching program wasn’t enough they will often give a bonus contribution if you give 6% (or whatever your companies set amount is).

It’s important to be informed. So many people I know have no clue what their 401k company match policy is. Some things you need to know are
1. What is the match percentage
2. What do I have to do to get the match
3. When do I vest (meaning how long do I have to stay at the company until I get to keep what the company put in)
4. What company manages the 401k plan and how can I access my account
5. What other 401k benefits does my company offer