The reality is that you are the plan sponsor and trustee. Even though most people will invest at least a portion of the money into the stock market, you are not required to do so. You have the ability to invest in almost whatever you want (subject to certain restrictions). But remember that these plans are targeting to have a certain amount of money at a point in the future when employees (such as you) retire. So large investment returns mean that the company does not have to contribute as much to reach that targeted funding amount. Conversely, if the stock market goes down substantially this may require the company to make larger contributions to make up for this decrease. The goal is to have slow and steady returns to minimize funding volatility. So if you plan on making more speculative investments, you may want to consider doing this in a defined contribution plan like a 401k. It is also important to note that you are given a range to contribute each year and this will fluctuate based on a variety of criteria one of which being investment returns.