Employer match

Free money your employer adds when you contribute to your workplace plan, following a formula — for example, 50 cents for every $1 you put in, up to 6% of your pay. Putting in $100 and watching it become $150 on the spot beats paying off even a 24.99% APR credit card, where $100 saves you about $25 of interest over a year. That arithmetic is why the match sits near the top of every published order.