Retirement & Pensions

Vesting

The process by which you earn full ownership of employer-contributed retirement funds over time.

While your own contributions are always fully yours, employer contributions (like a 401(k) match) are often subject to a vesting schedule, meaning you only keep the full employer contribution after working there for a set period. Common structures include cliff vesting (all at once after a set time) or graded vesting (gradually over several years).

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