Money in One Chart

money at work

Leave before the vesting date and part of your match goes back to the company.

Your own contributions are always yours. Employer contributions can vest on a cliff of up to three years, or in steps over up to six. The date is on one page of the plan summary.

You asked for the vesting check card. It is below, as the slides from the post, then the one move, then the tool the chart points at.

Slide 1 of 7: Leave before the vesting date and part of your match goes back to the company.Slide 2 of 7: How long an employer can make you wait for the match to be yours.Slide 3 of 7: A match you forfeit by leaving three months early is a raise you gave back.Slide 4 of 7: The vesting schedule is in the plan summary, and almost nobody reads the plan summary.Slide 5 of 7: If you are fully vested, none of this applies, and the check takes one minute to confirm.Slide 6 of 7: Three things to check.Slide 7 of 7: Save this for the week you start interviewing.

Three things to check.

  1. 01
    Your vested balance against your total balance, in the portal.If they match, you are done.
  2. 02
    The next vesting date, if they do not.A start date a few weeks later can be worth a lot.
  3. 03
    Whether the new employer will make up the difference.Signing bonuses often exist for exactly this.

The tool this chart points at

A low-fee brokerage

For the IRA, the index fund and the rollover. Broad index funds with expense ratios under 0.1%.

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Sources: IRS Retirement Topics: Vesting, accessed 2026-09-20.

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