<prompt> Human: Hello everyone. Long time lurker, first time poster.My employer offers a 401K and matches up to 4 percent. Following the advice here and elsewhere, I have been contributing that to take advantage of the match and have had the account just shy of 2 years. It is only worth a few thousand dollars, but I consider it a good start considering I am young and had nothing a few years ago.I was told last week that starting in January they would no longer be matching 4 percent bi-weekly, but would rather be giving us a descretionary match at the end of the year based on fiscal performance and projections. We will get one lump deposit on January 1 2017 with the percentage disclosed in December.This was explained as a benefit to us and told that the percentage could increase if the company exceeds expectations, but I am certain this will not happen. While my department has been doing well, the company as a whole has been losing money and there have even been layoffs as a result. When asked if the match could drop to zero, I was told that was a possibility.The kicker is that you must be an employee on December 31st of 2016 to get the match if there is one. So if I find another job or am laid off anytime before then, I am not entitled to anything.I feel like this is a game changer for my investment strategy, but I am not sure what to do about it. I feel like I should no longer contribute 4 percent, but should I contribute anything? I dont want to put in more than will be matched, but I dont know what that will be. Maybe I should start another type of retirement account and stop contributing to the 401K? Is there any way to transfer what I do have to something else? I am fairly new to all of this so any advice you all can share would be a huge help.  <response>: Seems like a pretty bad deal. The company may be trying to survive and rather than direct paycuts they choose a model like this. Seems like an early warning sign to at least start looking for alternatives. 