We haven't talked about goals in a long time

[lookout123]

Ask for a copy of the plan guidelines that were in effect when you were employed there. If it were set for 20% vesting with each plan anniversary and you were there just under 3 years then you should be vested for 40% of your first year contribution, 20% of your second, and 0% thereafter. Your guidelines may say something different, but that is pretty normal for vesting (I refuse to work with contracts that have vesting clauses).

The unfortunate truth is the HR people know next to nothing about the 401K plans. They didn't set them up, they don't administer them, and they have no authority over them. ONLY a registered advisor can talk to you about your investments, etc. The HR person has no role other than handing you the paperwork at appropriate times. The company controller or owner generally sign up for whatever contract idea they were told was a good idea by the plan sponsor/advisor. The plan sponsor/advisor's goal is to get the business. They have to make the company authorities comfortable with the plan to do so - vesting is sometimes used appease cheap owners who don't want to give TOO much money to the employees, but want to LOOK like they're doing great things for the little people

IMO.

[Radar]

Actually you become 20% more vested in the company contributed money each year. After 2 years you're 40% vested for the entire company contributed amount. After 3 you are 60%, etc.

[lookout123]

Cool. Check your guidelines. Many vesting schedules have vesting period for each year's contribution, rather than treating it as one bulk of money. Hope yours is more employee friendly.

[Clodfobble]

As a side note, I learned the hard way that most 401(k)s have a clause that says if your company goes spectacularly bankrupt, and the 401(k) company incurs legal fees while wrangling out a variety of fraudulent situations caused by the company, they can use your money to cover their legal fees.

[lookout123]

Uh, yep. the only thing better/worse than that was the local business owner who owned ever franchise location of a very popular company that turned out to be a flash in the pan. He encouraged every single one of his employees to invest in the 401K plan. Then when business started going south, he disappeared. Oh yeah, he had never actually sent any of their money to the 401k administrator.

Seriously, I'm thinking if I didn't get a statement periodically I'd ask questions.

[euphoriatheory]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

Good, glad you noticed. I was on disability benefit for just over 6 months because I was depressed. I'm sure many people would simply categorise that as being lazy, especially as my issues with alcohol exacerbated the problem. Not only did I get paid for being off work, most of my rent was paid and I got free counselling.

Nahhhhhh.... see, I'm not angry about people using the system the way it's meant to be used--you fell back on it to change your life circumstances, and you're doing the hard work that it takes to get back on your feet. I'm angry at people like my friend who volunteered the information that she simply won't shower for 3 days before her redetermination appointment and tries not to sleep the night before in an effort to "convince" her case worker that she has a legitimate problem. She's too smart for that. That's what truly irks me... because I actually WORK in State government, and it ticks me off when people abuse the system and take the money and time away from the people who really need it.

[TheMercenary]

Most companies 401(k)'s suck badly. I went to a Sep IRA and can put in much more per year than the last 401(k) offered. Each year they would give me a couple thousand back because we put in to much and it would be taxable. I can't think of any reason to give the company my money to play with when they have no interest in making money for me. Give it to a professional who has no interest in the company.

[lookout123]

You aren't giving your money to the company with a 401K plan, you're putting it into your own investment account. You choose the investments so you are responsible for the greatness/suckiness of your performance. True, a 401K doesn't have as many choices as an IRA, but you still usually have enough options to find something worth having.

SEP IRA is for the self employed, and is meant for putting far more in than you can in a 401K.

[Radar]

The maximum you can put away for retirement in 401k plans and IRAs is 25%. Of this 15% may be pre-tax, and 10% may be post-tax like a Roth.

[lookout123]

SEP allows 25% of cash flow with a ceiling of $41K (not counting catchups)

SIMPLE allows contributions and profit sharing feature

Owner/Uni 401K's allow $41K+ with some hitting $50K +

A traditional 401K allows you to put $15K + catchups in with pretax dollars. Many plans allow post tax dollars but you are talking about an accounting minefield. Quite often people who have after tax money in pretax plans end up double taxed so beware.

There are many many possible variations on 401K/IRA/Roth plans.