For nonprofit employees, doing good in the world while pursuing meaningful, cause-driven work shouldn’t prevent them from saving for a more secure financial future.

If you work for a nonprofit, much like individuals from for-profit, governmental and other sectors, here are some things you may be able to take full advantage of under your workplace retirement plan, if one is offered by your employer:

1.Contribute to your workplace retirement plan.

A 401(k) or 403(b) makes it easy to set aside money for the future because you can make contributions automatically from each paycheck. Many employers will now automatically enroll new employees into the workplace retirement plan, unless they opt out.

2. Take advantage of any employer match on contributions.

While the exact amount and structure for these matches vary, the bottom line is that if your plan includes a match, your employer is offering free money, so you should take advantage of this benefit by contributing at least enough to max out on the match. 

3. Know your contribution options.

Beyond the savings component in your workplace retirement plan, there are some other benefits inherent to these types of accounts. For example, traditional contributions are made on a pretax basis and grow tax-deferred until you take a withdrawal. If your plan offers designated Roth contributions, you could make after-tax contributions that will grow tax-deferred and be completely tax-free if withdrawals meet certain conditions.