<prompt> Human: My contract teaching at the university U.S.A. starts on the 15th of this month. I have an appointment with HR on Monday to discuss benefits, including retirement. Im mid-30s and have never had a job with benefits. I have no retirement savings. My husband and I both finished degrees in May me-MS, him-BS. I will be teaching at this Uni for 9 months, then moving into a PhD program somewhere, not at my current Uni. I have no idea what to even ask about the retirement options. Ive never thought about retirement other than once we have more than 1,000 in our account, we should save for retirement. What are the important questions I should ask about the retirement plan? What are the usual plans and how do they work? Should I even sign up for it given it will only be 9-months? This is the most foreign thing about being a professional Ive encountered yet. I have no idea how to even start learning about retirement options. Can you give me some advice on where to even start with this? Edit: The bot gave me link to the 401k FAQ. Helpful, but raises more questions. Do I only invest if I will be vested in their matches within the 9 months Im there? Will this be explained to me? If it is only my money going into the fund, would the money be better spent on reducing student loan dept or going into a savings account?Our overall goal with me taking this job and husband working is to save enough for a cross-country move and have a safety-net savings. Also, what happens when I leave a job with a 401k for 3-4 years of not having any retirement options?  <response>: Do I only invest if I will be vested in their matches within the 9 months Im there?Yes, otherwise theres no real draw to their retirement plan vs. other retirement options. You can save for retirement in an IRA if youd like. Will this be explained to me?I hope so. If it is only my money going into the fund, would the money be better spent on reducing student loan dept or going into a savings account?Our overall goal with me taking this job and husband working is to save enough for a cross-country move and have a safety-net savings.If youre going to need the money to move, then you really need to save for that. But at some point you need to start saving for retirement, youre getting behind.Also, what happens when I leave a job with a 401k for 3-4 years of not having any retirement options?If you have invested in the 401k, you can roll it over into an IRA.If you are going to save for retirement, you need to consider Roth vs. Traditional, do that before your meeting. They may or may not have a Roth 401k available. 