20% of Americans don’t take advantage of their 401(k) match. Several different recent surveys have found that about 1 in 5 American workers who are eligible to participate in a 401(k) plan don’t take advantage of their employer’s matching contributions. This is literally the same thing as refusing a part of your salary. One common reason is that the automatic contribution rates plans use for new hires is often less than the amount the employer is willing to match.