do you have a retirement plan as a NG

They are essentially paying you for saving your own money. Where else can you double your money like that? That's a pretty good deal! Why turn down *free* money? And then, the money will grow and in a few years, you'll have a nice little "nest egg" with very little effort on your part.

Yeah, you can't immediately access it or go on a big vacation with it, but you can usually tap into such retirement plans for big purchases such as buying a home, so it may be useful to you much sooner than retirement.

You are currently young and can work extra if you truly need the extra money. When you are older, that may not be an option and then you'll have to depend upon the money you saved when you were younger, like now.

Besides, they usually take it out before taxes, meaning if you opt out, instead of saving $80, you'll be paying $25 in taxes and only actually receiving $55 - or something like that.

So check the box "yes" and then don't think about it. You probably won't miss the money at all and will be happy to have it saved in the future. Win-win!

let me second what jjjoy said...take that free money and run !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

another way to look at: for every dollar you put away, you get a dollar from your employer, plus roughly 33 cents in tax savings (401ks are pre-tax dollars) so for each dollar you sacrifice from that paycheck....you are essentially socking away $2.33.

play with some of the online retirement calculators, and look at the difference your retirement savings will be beginning at your current age vs starting in 10 years...compounding interest is your friend!!!!!

im sure several others will agree with me...i wish i would have gotten started when i was your age....

kudos to you for having the presence of mind to think about it!!!

Do it!!! You will never regret saving money!

Do not opt out! Its a blessing! Nobody knows what the future holds, and just because you are in your 20's doesn't mean that things can't go pear-shaped. It would be great if you had the option to withdraw any time. Imagine if you had an accident? That money would be there for you...

The time to plan for your retirement is now. You're already used to not having that money and $80.00 per paycheck is chump change that you'll only blow and have nothing to show for it. Do not opt out. In fact if you stay and things settle down you need to opt for more money to go in.

Trust me on this from an older guy whose going to have to work until he drops because of poor planning when he was your age.

It's hard to think about what your going to be doing in 40 years, but trust me if you don't die 40 years is going to happen. You will always say "there's plenty of time to worry about that later, I have to worry about getting a house, a car, paying off student loans, getting married, kids, blah blah blah". Again, trust me on this. Stay in and leave it alone.

End of lecture. :)