<prompt> Human: I heard in my office that the 2 year vesting period could be applied by payment a 5 year work period followed by a change of job would be rewarded by 3 years of vested matched contributions I was under the impression that after the 2 years, all of it was vested and if you left at 2 years 1 month that it would all come with you. Which of these is correct, have you ever heard of the first scenario?  <response>: I have never seen a plan that worked like your first example. All the plans I have had, or that I have talked to anyone about, have had vesting like the second example, once you satisfy the vesting time requirements, all the company contributed funds are fully vested.If a company ever instituted the first scenario, they would need to track EACH employer contribution and all gains from it separately to properly account for someone who leaves when some contributions are vested and some are not. In the second interpretation found in ALL plans I know of they merely need to apply the vested percentage to the employer portion. This is a bother, but physically possible. The first would be an accounting nightmare. 