Journey 57 · Adultingbuildingbeginningexpanding
Investing, Inside Work and Out
“There's a retirement thing at work I've never opened, and I don't know what to do outside of it.”
You become: Someone with money invested in both places, automatically
Two separate systems, and most people only half-use one. The account at work with free money attached, then the accounts you open yourself — what goes in which, in what order, and why the boring option usually wins.
Understand
Employer match, vesting, account types, and what a fund actually is.
Practice
Opening accounts and setting automatic contributions.
Create
Two funded accounts on autopilot.
Evidence
Two statements, dated, and a contribution that hasn't stopped.
The money at work you're leaving behind
The highest-return move available to most people is on a form they haven't opened.
- Understand25m
Find out whether your employer matches, and to what percent
Ask HR or read the benefits summary. Write down two numbers: the percentage of your pay they'll match, and what you have to contribute to get all of it. If the answer is anything other than zero and you're contributing less than that, you are currently declining part of your salary.
You’ll have:The match percentage, and the contribution needed to capture all of it.
- Understand20m
Find your vesting schedule and your leave-date rule
Your own contributions are always yours. The employer's match may not be until you've been there a set time. Find the schedule — immediate, or graded over a few years — and write down the date you'd be fully vested. It's a real number to weigh when a job offer arrives.
You’ll have:Your vesting schedule and the date you'd be fully vested.
- Create20m
Set the contribution to at least the full match, today
Log in and change the number. Not next quarter — this pay period, because every one that passes at a lower rate is match you cannot go back and collect. If the full match is more than you can afford right now, set what you can and diarise a rise on your next pay increase.
You’ll have:A contribution rate set to capture the whole match.
8 more actions · 4h of work
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- Understand30m
Check what your contributions are actually invested in
The accounts you open yourself
Work covers retirement. Everything else needs an account with your name on it.
- Understand35m
Learn the three account types in plain language
- Understand30m
Understand what an index fund actually is
- Create45m
Open one account and put something real in it
- Create25m
Automate the contribution and then stop watching
Order of operations, and holding on
Knowing what to fund first is worth more than picking the right fund.
- Create30m
Write your funding order and pin it
- Create25m
Decide now what you'll do when it drops 30%
- Evidence20m
Save both statements and diarise the annual review
Tools this journey uses
Several actions above run straight through these. All free, no signup.