Hi all,
I am new to US job market. I m in a fulltime position with 401K plan. 
As I hear from my collegues, its not a good plan. They say - If u really want to save money put it in some stocks/gold/silver on regular interval. Overall you will get no benifit from it(401K plan) because you dont get any profit by investments.

On the other hand they are matching 50% of what I keep in the plan. It reduces few hundred dollar from my paycheck, but doesnt impact me on current financial situation. Even If I lose 33% on investment I will still have my portion of money safe.

Now which way shall I go?? stick with this plan or stop putting money there and mange myself??
Suggestion expected.

If your company is matching 50% (to a limit), I'd invest in the company sponsored 401K to that limit. This is for a long term so don't worry about stock fluctuations in a short term.

 Stiffy, You got the point.. 

I had chosen to invest within my 401K Plan as my employer matches 50% of what i allocate for the plan; but since the economy was not getting better, i happened to loose some money as the stock price plummeted. I think i lost something like $300 within a couple of months.

Then i decided to go for 401K Saving (3% Annual Interest Instead). Doing this, i cannot loose any of my money and rather have a good decent interest on my savings. If economy gets better (which is unlikely) i would start investing again.

Talk to the customer service reps. At first they really do not want you to stick with fixed deposit as its not very profitable for them ( I think) but they have to do it anyways if you want.

Return of investment (ROI) on stock market is better than real estate and way better than 3% Annual interest. Diversify your portfolio on 401k (make sure to pick foreign markets as part of your pick) and you will be set. Again, this is assuming you won't touch the 401K until it matures (possibly when you turn 55 or 60).

I think this is a 2 part question.
FIrst if your company is matching 50%, I would take it to the maximum. You are already getting a 50% profit on your investment. (For every $1 you are getting $0.50 back).
Secondly, if you don't know too much about stocks and bonds (like I do), then look the annual, semi-annual or quarterly report your 401K company send you. Look at what groups has been making money in the last 3-6 months, invest in those groups. Atleast this way you are not losing money.