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Fortunately, my 401(k) has gone up over the years. It is at least worth more than what I and my employer have put into it. I've got other investments that have done a lot better, but I'll take the free money if my employer is offering it.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of matching does everyone's company do? I feel like my employer is exceptionally shitty but I honestly don't have a whole lot of perspective.

My employer basically will give you at most $500 per year. They will match my contribution 50% up to the first $1,000 I contribute and then after that they contribute nothing. Apparatus for the record matched up to 3% of your salary which for me would have been $1,050 but as you can imagine if I made a shit load more money then the company would have matched a shit load more.

I get confused when we talk about vestments. The article below helped.

http://www.research401k.com/401k-vesting.html

I also forget what our schedule is like.

Merk wrote:Just out of curiosity, what kind of matching does everyone's company do? I feel like my employer is exceptionally shitty but I honestly don't have a whole lot of perspective.

My employer basically will give you at most $500 per year. They will match my contribution 50% up to the first $1,000 I contribute and then after that they contribute nothing. Apparatus for the record matched up to 3% of your salary which for me would have been $1,050 but as you can imagine if I made a shit load more money then the company would have matched a shit load more.

Depending on how generous the company is, it's usually up to 1-8% of salary, and I've heard of higher, often with no total limit or one that is comparatively high. SIMPLE IRAs are mandated to be matched to 3%, so that's a useful benchmark. Generally, the older, more established companies that used to (or still do, in some capacities) offer defined benefit pensions are the ones that already have employee retirement built into their cost structures and therefore offer the highest employer match. Younger companies tend to offer higher cash compensation but fewer benefits such as retirement plans so, where offered, will match on the lower end of that scale. The theory here is that the employee can simply choose to save some of that extra cash, if they want, in individual retirement accounts or similar.

The 3% isn't much for SIMPLE IRA in the eyes of many people, but I am glad I have set that up as it's money to keep even if I do leave that employer.

Also, I feel like we should rename this thread to "pimp my investments."

Well Jesus Christ I am literally going getting 1.11% matching from my current employer. This is shit!

At least it's free money.

My plan is 30% of my contributions up to a total of 6% of my earnings. If you math that out, it's about 1.8% per year. So...not that much more than yours.

Welp, stocks have been getting slammed the last couple of weeks - I'm about to be officially losing money!

Ladies and gentlemen we are in the red. $900 of unrealized gains have been vaporized!

I SHOULD HAVE INVESTED IN FAKE INTERNET MONEY

Merk wrote:Ladies and gentlemen we are in the red. $900 of unrealized gains have been vaporized!

I SHOULD HAVE INVESTED IN FAKE INTERNET MONEY

Wha?

Buttcoin!

Ladies and gentlemen we are in the red. $900 of unrealized gains have been vaporized!

We are? Who we? What's happening?

God damnit, my portfolio at one point was worth $900 more dollars than what I put into it. Had I sold my portfolio at its peak, I would have made $900 in profit minus brokerage fees and capital gains taxes and whatnot.

Now my portfolio is worth less than what I had invested into it. I would literally have more money by NOT investing in the stock market and just sitting on a pile of cash.

Merk wrote:God damnit, my portfolio at one point was worth $900 more dollars than what I put into it. Had I sold my portfolio at its peak, I would have made $900 in profit minus brokerage fees and capital gains taxes and whatnot.

Now my portfolio is worth less than what I had invested into it. I would literally have more money by NOT investing in the stock market and just sitting on a pile of cash.

Know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em.