**With certain 401 type retirement plans the employer may make contributions to your 401 account as: 1. a fixed dollar or percentage amount, either with or without a required employee contribution; 2. a fixed percentage match of the employee contributions; or 3. a match to the employee's contribution within a given range (i.e. a variable employee match). As a result the employee gains an immediate return on their matched contributions (for example a $0.25 employer match for every dollar the employee contributes equals an immediate 25.0% return - a dollar for dollar match equals a 100% return). In addition the employee reduces their current income taxes while boosting their retirement investments, pre-tax contributions are not subject to federal and (in most cases) state income taxes until withdrawn and earnings accumulations are tax-deferred.