Vesting and Your 401(k)

Do you have a 401(k) retirement account? Are you vested yet? Before you move on to your next job, it is critical for you to find out if you are fully vested in your retirement account before you make the move. If you are not, you could lose hundreds if not thousands of dollars in employer contributions.

Vesting refers simply to the non-forfeitable percentage of your account's assets. In other words, whatever you contribute to your 401(k) plan is always yours to keep including any rollover money.

If your employer contributes to your plan, a vesting schedule for the employer's contribution is part of the plan. This schedule ties in a non-forfeitable percentage to the employer's contribution for each year of service until you are fully vested ? 100% ? in the employer contribution.

Vesting schedules vary with the employer. A sample schedule could include you being fully vested after three years of service. After year one the schedule may have you one third vested; after year two you could be two thirds invested; finally upon your third anniversary you would have full entitlement to your employer's contributions, thus you would be 100% vested.

In all cases, upon leaving a company your contribution and any rollover funds are yours to keep. However, depending on your employer's vesting schedule only a percentage of the funds contributed by your employer may actually be yours to keep. If you leave before you are fully vested, you stand to lose a significant amount of money. Thus, it behooves you to calculate whether the financial benefits of the new job outweigh any potential loss of employer contributions to your 401(k) account.

Matthew Keegan is the owner of a successful article writing, web design, and marketing business based in North Carolina, USA. He manages several sites including the Corporate Flight Attendant Community and the Aviation Employment Board. Please visit The Article Writer to review selections from his portfolio.

---

What is a Traditional IRA?

With a traditional Investment Retirement Account (IRA) you pay taxes when you take the money out at retirement in the future. Make sure that this account is really worth opening in your situation... Read More

Budgeting your Savings - Did You Let Your Piggy Bank Get Away?

I think most of us have at some point in our lives. Some how we forget to feed the little piggy. And, like most neglected "pets", your piggy bank will disappear if you... Read More

Introduction to Australian Superannuation

Australians, in general, constitute some of the worst savers in the world. Current estimates suggest that, on average, Australians save just 4% of their income. This is less than half of the 11%... Read More

Live Green; Save Green!

Have you seen the recent article on a new "green" residential high rise in Battery Park? It's called The Solaire. For a look at the hopeful future of architectural efficiency, check out the... Read More

How To Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft

Identity theft is a serious crime that continues to grow. If you become a victim of identity theft, you may spend months, or years, trying to repair the damage. A compromised credit report... Read More

Succession Planning

Have you ever thought about what you are going to leave your children when you pass from this earth? Wouldn't it be a great feeling to be able to give them a really... Read More

Do You Know What Tomorrow Will Bring?

I've been sharing the following idea with people for a few years now, and realized recently that I had never written specifically about it. So here it is:"I cannot predict the future."That may... Read More

Improving Your Financial Position

If you want money you need to learn how to control it. You need to improve your financial education and build your discipline. I am going to reveal to you how you can... Read More

7 Simple Ways To Save Money

Each of us knows how to spend money, but do we really know how to save our money? No, I am not necessarily talking about setting aside funds for an investments purposes ?... Read More

Budgeting: A Tough Love Way to Handle Your Household Budget

Developing and living by a household budget is by far the best way to get your expenses under control which, in turn, can mean a much less stressful life.However, many families find it... Read More

A Fresh Start for Family Finances in 2005

While 40% to 50% of us make New Year's resolutions on January 1-a ritual that has existed since ancient times-approximately 60% to 80% of us have already broken them by the end of... Read More

Check Facts and Figures

Are you a check fanatic? Don't worry, you aren't alone. Millions of consumers write checks every year. In fact in the United States most consumers use checks to handle payment transactions.Want to convince... Read More

Healthy Eating On A Budget

It is possible to eat a healthy, balanced diet without breaking the bank! Here are some suggestions:-Eliminate junk food. You may have to do your grocery shopping alone, since children (and sometimes spouses!)... Read More

Creating A Household Budget

Creating a budget can be a very difficult task. Although we as consumers know that we need to pay our bills, buy our necessities, and put money away for savings, we don't really... Read More

Bankruptcy Chapters Explained

Chapter 7The potential chapter 7 debtor should understand that a straight bankruptcy case does not involve the filing of a plan of repayment as in chapter 13, but rather envisions the bankruptcy trustee's... Read More

Help With My Annuity

The cries are heard from the distance, "I need help with my annuities." Nothing has changed...just a lonely senior who can't trust anybody with her annuity because every time she asks for advice,... Read More

Kundalini Lessons - Money

I've been going through and interesting growth period lately that I thought I'd share, as some of the lessons were pretty profound (at least for me).I've written before about my awakening and the... Read More

Vacations Made Easy: Buying a Florida Investment Property

Vacations Made Easy: Buying a Florida Investment PropertyA relaxing beach vacation means different things to different families. However, imagine returning from a long day in the sand and waves, hair dripping and tan... Read More

Debt Management ? More Ways to Save on Gas Consumption

The price of gas continues to climb, and with continued uncertainty in the Middle East, they will probably continue to do so. In California and elsewhere, prices for some grades of gas have... Read More

Why You Should Seek Professional Help With Asset Management

Everyone needs to maintain their lives. What I mean by that is that we all need to take certain measures to make sure that we have a home, transportation, food, entertainment etc.One of... Read More

How To Free-Up 10% to 15% of Your Income

Would you be interested in freeing up 10% to 15% of your current income? Just imagine what you could do with this money. You could pay down your debts, increase your savings, or... Read More

Affording a Home

Can you really afford a house? If so, how much house can you afford? To determine this answer will take serious financial planning, and the best time to start is at least six... Read More

How Check 21 Affects You

The Check 21 Law is the new federal law for financial institutions and has taken effect last October 28, 2004.Before the Check 21 law was enacted, your paper check had to be physically... Read More

More Money? My Cup Runneth Over...But Im Still Thirsty

Most of us, especially those of us who have debtor's disease (if you have it you know what it is!), have commented or at least thought, "If I could just win the lottery,... Read More

Save Money Off Your Home Utility Bills

Many don't realize that our basic utility bills provide the perfect money saving opportunity for practically every household!Especially with today's energy crisis so prevalent throughout many of the states, you've probably heard this... Read More

Financing Collectibles for Fun and Profit

With the advent of the internet and especially auction services like those provided by Yahoo and E-bay, serious collectors have much larger arenas in which to buy and sell their wares. This provides... Read More

10 Tips to Make Sure Your Financial Budget Will Succeed

You've analyzed your past expenses, put them into spreadsheets, loaded Quicken with all of your data and come up with a budget. Now what? The tough part! You actually have to stick to... Read More

Car Donations and Used Car Donations

Car donations and used car donations are the way many people choose to recycle their older model cars without having the headache of repairing, advertising, showing, and hopefully then selling them. Being able... Read More

Saving Money On Gasoline For Your Automobile

The gas that we fill our tanks with every week adds up to be quite an expensive bill over the months and years. Thirty dollars a week in gas adds up to over... Read More