If you're not familiar with the idea of a vesting schedule, here's how it works: If you don't stay at a job for a particular period of time, you may lose some or all of your account or benefit in a qualified plan. The portion you cannot forfeit is called "vested." So, for instance, if you have a DC plan with $1,000 in it, and you quit at a time you're 40% vested, then it means you get to keep only $400 of your account, and the rest is forfeited. Before ERISA, there were some harsh vesting schedules. For instance, some plans would provide that you forfeit everything if you aren't employed for 10 years. ERISA, and more so in later legislation, created protection for employees in the form of minimum vesting schedules.

Describe a vesting schedule, anything that's permissible today, and explain how and when it would be used. Give examples.