Hi, my name is Mei Carmer, and I am an Associate Financial Advisor here at Katterhenry Investment Group of NEST Capital. In case you missed our Finance 101 seminars, you’re in luck. Welcome to Episode 5 of our 8 episode video series highlighting the various topics we discussed. In this video, we will talk about important things regarding your career.

                The first thing is your offer letter. When you get offered a job, the offer will include more than just how much you make. The offer letter will include your base earnings, whether that will be salary or hourly as well as what your bonus structure will look like if there is one. This could be performance based or signing, and the letter will outline what you have to do to be eligible. The letter will let you know what benefits are offered and may include insurance, paid time off, holidays, or other perks. It will also go over the retirement plan and matching process they offer if there is an employer-sponsored plan in place and how to be eligible. Finally, the offer letter will go over work expectations and the desired start date.

                Now let’s go back and talk about the retirement plan and match more in depth. It is important to note that not all companies offer retirement benefits, but a lot of companies do these days. Depending on what type of company you work for will determine what type of retirement plan might be offered. There are defined contribution plans where you are responsible for the outcome of the account, like a 401k, 403b, SIMPLE or SEP IRA, or governmental 457B, or a defined benefit plan, where the outcome of the plan is more outlined for the retiree, like a pension or STRS/OPERS. Each plan operates a little different but the goal is retirement saving. For the defined contribution plans, employers may offer a contribution match, which means your company might put money into your retirement account if you put money in as well. For example, if a company has a 3% match, they might put in 3% of your earnings into your account if you contribute 3% as well. You should try and contribute at least enough to get your employer’s match because this is free money. A 401k or other retirement plan account is exactly that, an account, you have to actually invest the money that’s in the account or it may just sit in cash. Investing the money is how you’ll grow the account to be able to retire. One important thing to note is that while you are entitled to 100% of your contributions, if you leave the company, there is usually what’s called a vesting schedule for what percentage of employer contributions are yours based on years of service. For example, if you leave the company after 1 year, you may only get 20% of what the employer contributed on your behalf. This schedule should be outlined in your employee handbook or plan description notice.

                Now, if and when you do switch jobs, don’t forget about your retirement account; that money is yours and don’t let it get left on the table. You have multiple options on what to do, including rolling funds into your next employer’s plan. This has been Episode 5 of our 8 Episode Finance 101 Video series. Episode 6 will start our conversation of investing.

Investment products and services are offered through Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC (WFAFN), Member SIPC. Katterhenry Investment Group of NEST Capital is a separate entity from WFAFN.