As if the market weren't doing enough damage to your 401(k) retirement plan, your employer might be hurting it, too.

Last month, General Motors announced that it would suspend its company matches to employee contributions to 401(k) plans. Frontier Airlines and Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group have followed suit in recent weeks.

"It's a tough position for a company to be in," says David Wray, president of the Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America. "Companies sometimes have to choose between layoffs and getting rid of the match."

Some companies have to do both. In the wake of the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s, some companies also stopped matching employee contributions. Eventually, those plans were reinstated, Mr. Wray says.

Here's what to do if your employer takes away your company match:

Keep saving in your plan. Companies that offer matches to 401(k) retirement plans do it as an incentive to get employees in the habit of saving. And you'll need that habit now more than ever.

So don't stop contributing because the company has stopped giving you free money. With compound interest, even seemingly small contributions can have a tremendous impact on your result.

Try Saving More. Although there's a lot of budget crunching going on, try to see if you can make up the difference in what your employer was contributing, says Mr. Wray. Check what the maximum contributions are with your human-resources department. Retirement planners suggest that savers put away 5% to 10% of their income toward retirement, if possible.

Consider an IRA. Although Individual Retirement Accounts are great investment vehicles, financial advisers suggest maxing out 401(k) contributions first, as they generally carry fewer fees and greater tax advantages. A 401(k) will allow a saver to contribute more tax free per year.

For example, in 2008 the 401(k) contribution limit was $15,500, compared with a $5,000 limit for traditional and Roth IRAs. When choosing an IRA, investors should decide whether they want a traditional IRA, which allows for tax deductions in the year that the account is contributed to, or a Roth IRA. The latter offers no tax deductions today, but money withdrawn from the account later isn't taxed.

Look Into an HSA. Health Savings Accounts "are a very underutilized product," says Michael Doshier, with Fidelity Investments' workplace investing group.

Although HSAs are not intended to replace 401(k) plans, they help you save for future qualified medical expenses. They are "triple tax-free," meaning that money put in, deferred and withdrawn from the plan comes tax-free.

And as for what the market is doing to your 401(k), Mr. Wray suggests that people take a healthy look at their risk tolerance and asset allocation. "But try not to check on your account too much."