401(K)

He has worked his way up to produce buyer, earning $35, 000 a year with health benefits and a 401(k) plan.

The drill - Sign up for your company's 401(k) plan, especially if it matches all or part of what you contribute.

Retirement & relocation: Do not know about 401(k) contributions or retirement funds.

In our scenario, if Dad did that, then the funds in the 401(k) go directly to the children and do not go through probate.

Experts say that such "senior moments" are normal even if it will be decades before you can begin to think about tapping your 401(k).

A very large proportion of the population has no interest, knowledge or time to direct their 401(k) plans.

If your investments are through a 401(k), they make sense: They're saving you taxes, maybe taking advantage of a company match.

Much of this information could be used to maximize your 401(k)'s or IRA's potential, if you've already set up a plan for retirement savings.

" Should I withdraw money from my 401(k)? " After 10 people sent me this link, I knew I had to check it out.

On top of that, she stashed about $1, 000 in her 401(k) account.

Simply getting your quarterly 401(k) statement can be enough to send your blood pressure skyrocketing.

That would be nice for millions of 401(k)s that have been cut in half over the past 12 months, but it is not likely.

Best of all, you get tax breaks up front on your 401(k) contributions, saving you a ton of money.

Retirement &relocation : Firm matches 25% of your 401(k) contributions up to 6% of your pay.

It's easy, especially if you are an employee, as you are probably already enrolled in a 401(k).

Automate your investing, so you keep buying stocks during rough markets, by signing up for payroll deduction into your company's 401(k).

Your employer, like many companies, may cease contributing to your 401(k) or other retirement plan.

Contribute to a 401(k) or 403(b) retirement plan if you can, especially if your employer offers to match a percentage of your contribution.

Safe harbor 401(k) contributions must be 100% vested at all times with immediate eligibility for employees.

Make sure the company you work for has a matching 401(k) program. Be sure to maximize your contribution.

For less financially inclined individuals, the countless investment options in their 401(k) plans is of little comfort.

'I've lost a fortune in stocks, and my 401(k) is falling through the floor. I feel comfortable in alpacas, ' she says.

Matching dollars offer you a 100% return on the money you put in -- even before counting the tax break or the investment returns.

Where inertia has often kept people from opening a 401(k) account, now it's being used to nurture good savings habits.

Retirement &relocation : BCG also contributes 15% of your base bonus into your 401(k) retirement account, with $0 required contribution.

If you haven't looked at your 401(k) statement lately, this is not the moment to get brave.

Depending on the plan manager, some 401(k) plans do not offer Vanguard funds.

Defined-benefit pension plans have been replaced by 401(k)s, and then employers sometimes cut the matching contributions.

Channel a portion of your paycheck to your 401(k) and savings accounts.

This is a time to invest as much as you can in your 401(k) while developing other ways to sock away money.

If you've been in a plan for a while, stay in it, even if you've suffered big losses in the market.

Just days before, the jobs, income, 401(k)'s and money-market funds of these citizens had seemed secure.

Temporarily suspend mandatory annual withdrawals from Individual Retirement Accounts and 401(k)s.

During the downturn, millions of unemployed workers obviously weren't plowing money into their 401(k)s.

If you are feeling bad about your 401(k) losses, consider the case of Sheldon Adelson.

That in turn will facilitate higher 401(k) contributions and produce bigger Social Security benefits.

Investors wishing to formulate a couch-potato portfolio within their 401(k) plans may run into some difficulties.

It doesnot(usually) include the 401(k) (more on this in a moment).

Priorto EGTRRA, the maximum tax-deductible contribution to a 401(k) plan was15% of eligible pay (reduced by the amount of salary deferrals).

His father, an engineer, was laid off twice during the recession and then saw his 401(k) fund topple.

By law, 401(k) plans have to report their annual results to the Labor Department.

On the first day, they enroll in a 401(k), set up direct deposit, and, oh yeah, are given this non-compete thing to sign.

Madrian suggests several reasons why many 401(k) participants accepted the default contribution rate and fund allocation.

Many of the firms that slashed pay or cut 401(K) matches haven't restored them even though their balance sheets are in rude health.

What if Dad screwed up and didn't name a beneficiary for his 401(k) other than his now-dead wife?

And you can always encourage kids to save by matching what they put aside -- your very own family 401(k).

But today, the escalator is jammed at the top. Senior workers won't leave their jobs because the recession devastated their 401(k) plans.

If you had read in 2007 that there would be a 'Panic of '08, ' would you have left your money in the stock market and 401(k)?

What's the company match on the 401(k)?

Should our 401(k)s follow Wall Street's finest into the low-yielding safety of cash and bonds?

But the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) made 401(k) plans more beneficial to the self-employed.

Other options include asking for a one-time bonus or a reinstatement of a cut benefit such as 401(k) matching.

But there is little sign of that; employees subscribed just 7. 8% of their salaries to 401(k) plans this year, according to Hewitt.

Here's what he wants you to know: That disappearing 401(k) balance?

Consumer confidence has plummeted with the value of 401(k) plans and retirement nest eggs.

House values have declined, 401(k) balances have shrunk and unemployment is up.

Now the first generation of 401(k) folks are retiring and almost all of them are finding they don't have enough savings.

Sign up for your company's 401(k) and make regular contributions.

In addition, AMD is suspending matching company contributions to 401(k) employee retirement plans.

Anyone 50 and older can contribute a maximum of $22, 000 to a 401(k) and $6, 000 to any IRA annually.

By comparison, mutual funds in the U. S. 's 401(k) pension plan often charge between 0. 25% and 1%.

The organization also unveiled a nationwide 401(k) retirement plan for its members in April 2009.

Does your employer offer to match the first dollars you pay into your 401(k) each year?

First, a lot of people aren't even maxing out their 401(k) and individual retirement account contributions each year.

They advertise financial advice for people who are unsure of what to do with their uprooted 401(k) accounts.

More than 90m Americans own stocks, through mutual funds and 401(k) plans.

Will it contribute to a 401(K) plan?

Federal workers already have a savings plan similar to a 401(k).

IRAs and 401(k)s are largely protected in bankruptcy, as is most of your child's 529 college-savings account. This money is your future.

'American voters care a lot more about stocks and their 401(k)s.

You can contribute $22, 000 a year to your 401(k), not just $16, 500, and $6, 000 to your Individual Retirement Account instead of $5, 000.

Senior workers won't leave their jobs because the recession devastated their 401(k) plans.

You can cash out your 401(k) if you get laid off, but don't.

401(k)s remain the popular retirement plan and, if you have one, it's time to take a close look.

But if they are in addition to your 401(k) plan, they may not make sense right now.

Americans have savings concentrated in equities, generally in vehicles (such as 401(k) pension plans) whose value is very transparent.

All parents struggle with how to teach children about taxes, 401(k) plans, saving for the future and other critical financial skills.

Then their sixties roll around, and they wish they'd spent less on S. U. V. s and HDTVs and put more into their 401(k)s.

Most companies now offer either a 401 k plan or 403 (b) plan.

A 403(b) or a 457 plan may be available to some employees instead of a 401(k) plan and, if so, typically work very similarly.

Pensions have been replaced with 401(k)s; many workers have to buy their own health insurance; and so on.

Training is the new 401(k)!

Use employee funds, such as profit-sharing or 401 (K) moneys, for personal use.

If you're 60 to 65 you retire on time. Your 401(k) just got nailed.

BB& T Corp. , for example, last summer introduced a FDIC-insured deposit program for 401(k)s, but it currently yields just 0. 06%.

Have you checked your 401(k) balance lately?

The average 401(k) balance rose 28% last year, reports Fidelity Investments.

'Do you invest in your 401(k)? '

If your employer doesn't offer a 401(k), try fashioning one yourself out of any spare pieces of Internal Revenue Code you have lying around

Retirement &relocation : 401(k) contribution: up to $7, 400