Found Money
Employer-sponsored 401(k) plans are becoming more generous. As reported in USA TODAY recently, 36 percent of such plans now offer a 100 percent match on employee contributions. In other words, for every dollar an employee saves in a 401(k) plan, their employer kicks in a dollar as well--usually up to a certain percentage of the employee's pay. In 2002, just 26 percent of plans offered a 100 percent match.
Matt's View
An employer match is the easiest money you'll ever make. And yet, according to Hewitt Associates, one-third of eligible employees do not participate in their company's 401(k) plan. Of those who do, one-fifth fail to save enough to receive their employer's full match.
If you're not participating in your employer's plan, contact your human resources department to find out what you need to do to get in the game. Start with one percent of your income if that's all you can muster for now. And then grow the percentage over time. With the money automatically deposited, you'll soon find that you don't even miss the money.
This article filed in: Retirement , Saving
Managing Money by The Book
- "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." - Matthew 7:24-25
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