A vested balance is the amount of money in a retirement account that belongs to an employee and cannot be taken back by an employer when the employee leaves their job, even if they are fired. The vested balance includes the employees contributions, which are always 100% vested, any investment earnings, and the employers contributions that have passed the required vesting period. Vesting refers to the ownership of the contributions made into a retirement account by employees and their employers. The contributions an employee makes are always 100% vested, but the vested percentage of the employers contributions depends on the amount of time the employee was employed by the company. Vesting schedules vary, but employees typically become 100% vested after a specified number of years. Employers may use immediate, cliff, or graded vesting schedules for their retirement plans.