<prompt> Human: Note: Ive read through the FAQ - well, skimmed through it - but wanted to ask some specific questions and get different explanations.I started out as a contractor so I didnt have any benefits, but was brought on at the beginning of October 2015.The company Im working for auto enrolls employees in the 401k program - Which is through Vanguard - with a default start of 4. The company does a 50 match, so they add another 2. Initially I didnt know it was auto-enrolled, so I let it go for a couple weeks. As a contractor I was paid weekly, but now its bi-weekly. I noticed 60 taken out of my check. I needed my whole check at the time, so that 120month being taken out - while I know its good to start saving since I was 24 when this got set up - made a difference. So after 2 contributions, I changed my contributions to 0.At this point I had 184.11 in contributions 122.74 from me, 61.37 from my company.I recently started thinking about it, and I have a little more room now to change my contributions again so I logged into the Vanguard site and found that my balance is only 149.58 now.I was going through the site which is confusing as hell, and found a sort of time chart that shows my contributions as well as returns. My balance appears to be going up and down.So I have a few questions:- For anyone that has used Vanguard to manage their 401kinvestments. How the hell do I navigate this site? Theres so many pages that look like theyre showing the same information.- It will shows my under my plans that I have a 2055 Retirement Trust. Im assuming that this is just the single account that I have set up where my money was going?- Why is balance fluctuating? I understood a 401k as a long term, high interest savings account.- What are the investments that the site refers to? Or does it just mean I have the option of setting up investments Which i also know nothing about... but that can be saved for another thread, another dayBasically, any information you can give me about the 401k plans, or how the Vanguard site is designed or how to really know what Im looking at... Id appreciate it. Thank you for making it to the end of the post.EDIT: Heres a few screen shots of what Im looking at.EDIT: More. - What exactly is the Price that it shows? Is that what it costs to have the 401k? Is that a one time thing? Monthly? One page shows like it might be a frequent thing, but thatd also mean I should have nothing left if its charging 38 frequently.EDIT: What does it mean to save more to maximize employer contribution. My employer does a 50 match. So if I contribute 4 which is about 60 of my gross pay, they will contribute 2 about 30. If I change mine to 8, and contribute 120, then my employer is still going to do half of that, and contribute 60.I understand the obvious, that 180 is more than 90. But my employer is still going to do a 50 match, so that statement confuses me.Assistant: Well I cant tell you much about the Vanguard site, but a few things:1. The 2055 trust that they have you in is a target retirement date fund. Basically, they invest your money in securities of varying levels of risk, in allocations that reflect when you want to retire which they think is the year 2055. Since youre young, they probably have you in mostly stocks, and maybe a small percentage is low risk bonds. That will start to shift as you get older.2. Your balance is fluctuating because of the stock market going up and down. Dont worry about it; your balance will have highs and lows. Just keep putting money in; unless there are a series of massive crashes over the next several decades, you will almost assuredly come out on top.3. IF there is a big crash, do NOT make the mistake that many people make, which is pulling your money out of your 401k. If the market crashes, you are then buying the stocks on the cheap. The market will recover, and your account will recover with it. Also, you get penalized heavily when you pull your money out before youre 59.5 years old.Just keep putting into it. It doesnt seem like a lot now, but over the 10 years Ive been in my companys plan, I have saved WELL over what I would have saved on my own. Good luck!Human: Since youre young, they probably have you in mostly stocks, and maybe a small percentage is low risk bonds. That will start to shift as you get older. Your balance is fluctuating because of the stock market going up and downOk so the money that I put into my 401k, is primarily going to stocks? Do I get to know what stocks? I only see that retirement fund. The way Ive imagined stocks, you pick a company to buy shares in, which increasedecrease in value. Is my money just going to random stocks for random companies? This part confuses me. If the market crashes, you are then buying the stocks on the cheap.So, say Im putting in the 60, and the 30 from my company. Thats 90 every two weeks. If the market crashes, and the stock prices drop for what seems like apparently random companies, Id still have 90 going in, which means Im getting a higher amount of stocks, correct?- Assuming that statement is correct, and using arbitrary numbers of 10 a stock. That 90 gets me 9 shares, each worth 10 a piece for that total of 90.- If the stocks drop to 5 a share, then initially I lost 45. But thatd also mean I can buy more at 5share. So the next contribution of 90, Id be getting 18 shares. If they go back up to 10share, Id end up with my original 9 shares equaling 90 so, breaking even in a sense, PLUS the other 18 that are now worth 180, when I spent 90 on them. - Essentially Id have invested 180, and currently have 270 in stocks.It appears like its almost better for the younger folks when the market crashes, because we can get our hands on more stocks for the same price, producing a greater profit when they go back up.Granted, if my initial assumption is not correct, it invalidates the rest of my post.Thanks for the information though.  <response>: You are correct in how you see buying stocks cheaper. If the market drops, you get more shares for the same amount of money. And yes they can go back up and now you have a higher value than you initially invested. And just to add some info, the vanguard target date funds are fantastic retirement options. They are very diversified, low expense, and rebalance on their own as you get closer to retirement. They start at higher risk more stocks, less bonds so you have the opportunity to make more money. When you are young and the market dips, you have a lot of time to make it up. It shifts more towards bonds as you near retirement age because you dont want to chance going into retirement when the market is down and you have a lot less money. 