<prompt> Human: Im a young professional that just started my engineering career out of college. Im new to this community, so thank you all in advance. My company does a 2:1 match for the first 2 contributed and 1:1 for the next 3 total of 7 match for 5 contribution. My current plan is to contribute the max 18k allowable. I have no debt to worry about. I understand that the earlier you invest in your 401k the better, but is there any risk involved with it? Is there any way that you could potentially lose the money in your 401k account?  <response>: Is there any way that you could potentially lose the money in your 401k account?Depending on what you invest in, yes. The 401k is just a vehicle. You also need to choose funds to invest in. The more rewarding funds are stock-based, which also come with risk. Generally younger folks can ride out recessions and will be able to be just fine. As you get closer to retirement, youll want more stable investments bonds which are not at risk.The main thing to be concerned about when youre young is whether or not maxing out your 401k will let you pay all your bills and save for what you want to save for. If you want to buy a house in 5 years, it may be better to lower your 401k contributions a bit and save towards a house.Take a look at the PRIME DIRECTIVE link in the sidebar. Especially the flowchart. Itll give you a good idea of how your money should be allocated and what things have priority. In general, you want to always hit that 7 to get matching. But you might want to invest in an IRA or save towards something emergency fund, car, wedding, house, etc before maxing out the rest of your 401k. 