<prompt> Human: I just accepted a new job today where Ill be making about 35kyear and the company offers health insurance, 100 shares in the company stock, and they match 4 of my 401k. I am confused as to how 401k works, I read the 18-25 tips on the sidebar and it says I should take the match, but what exactly does that mean? Should I put 4 of my paycheck every time towards my 401k? Do they do that automatically if I tell them to or is that something I do on my own?What do I do with the company stocks? Is that something I just hold onto for a while in hopes it one day is worth a lot or do you trade or i dont know I have no idea how stocks work.Lastly, whats the best way to start saving money? Im looking to get my own studio apartment by July 2019 when I have to move out of my current place.Thanks in advance!  <response>: A 401k is a tax advantaged retirement account. You will pick either a traditional pre-tax or Roth post tax tax treatment and you can contribute up to 18500 each year. The taxes are basically, you will only be taxed once on the money, do you want to be taxed now Roth or later traditional. A 4 match means your employer will contribute 4 of your salary on top of what you put in- usually there are caveats to this, though. Typically there is a vesting schedule which means if you were to leave the company you forfeit the matched portion of the account, according to a schedule, and usually you have to put in at least the match to get the match- ie. You have to put in 4 of your own money to get your company to match the money, adding another 4 into the account. In that situation you would have 8 of your salary going into the account, but you would only be paying 4. A company I used to work at did a 100 match of 3 and then 50 match of 2 or something, so sometimes it can get a little confusing. This is why getting your match is important though. By diverting that 4 into your 401k, you are getting a 100 return on the money before its even invested, which is the best return on an investment you can get basically. You can also look at it as a 4 raise, diverted into your retirement accounts. Go to your local library and read up on all of this. Its important to know! 