Where to start

Starting to invest

An employer match, retirement, growing your money.

Here's where to start — a calculator to run the numbers, a plain-English guide, and a short lesson with a first move. Which lesson fits depends on where you are.

Tool Employer match calculator

See the free money you're leaving on the table — with a 10-year projection.

Open the tool Guide Guide to 401(k)

Walk away confident about your 401(k): Roth vs. traditional, the match you shouldn't leave behind, and what to do with it when you switch jobs.

Read the guide For starting out The match is part of your pay

Log into your benefits portal this week and raise your contribution to the match ceiling.

Take the lesson A few years in HR signed me up for a Roth 401(k) at 3%.

Confirm the Roth default fits your bracket, then raise the rate to your full match — and switch on auto-escalation if your plan offers it.

Take the lesson Building for others I'm 35 with basically nothing saved.

Carry the catch-up math (hard but not hopeless) and a specific starting move scaled to income.

Take the lesson