Best 401k Matches?

[iwasjustwondering]

At my last job in Pharma, I not only got 10% (with no cap), half of that wasn't even a match.  We got 5% profit sharing and a 5% match.  There were people who didn't contribute a dime who were taking money out of their "401K." 

And yes, I left that job.  ;)

[Kiwi Fuzz]

Education seems to be where it's at in terms of generous company matches, wow...

My company only offers a 50% match up to 6% (so they will match 3% if you put in 6%). However, recently my department merged with another part of the company and that department had a pension. They cashed out the pension but in lieu of it they now make a 4% company contribution (not match - you don't have to contribute anything to get the company contribution).

So now I'm at 7% company match/contribution total. I thought that was pretty good until I read the posts in this thread!

[rpr]

Education seems to be where it's at in terms of generous company matches, wow...

In education/research as well. Company puts in 10% of salary into a 401a with no employee contributions required. In addition, the employee can contribute to a 403b up to the allowed limits.

These matches/contributions are good but salaries in education/research tend to be much lower (20-30%), when compared to industry.   Also no tenure :(

[mm1970]

My company funds 20% (approx, it varies a little but IDK why) of W2 income via a pension and profit sharing plan, no employee contribution required or allowed. It's a top heavy plan, lots of highly compensated people.

I don't know why any of the staff ever quit to take other jobs. It's an amazing retirement plan.

Hubby's company the same, varies from 10% to 25%, into 401k.  It's been averaging 20%.  I can't imagine why he'd ever leave.

Except it's a contract-based job, so people do leave if they cannot bring in contracts and others don't want them working on theirs.

[mm1970]

Well, I hate my company.

They match 25 cents per dollar that we add, up to 1% of our total income or $350 per year (whichever is less).....

I get zero match.  Nothing, zilch, nada, and exactly 1 raise in 5 years.

[Clean Shaven]

My wife's 401k plan just started offering a match:  "[employer] will contribute 10% of the employee's first 4% withheld." 

That's so low it's insulting.  Maybe we need a thread for "worst 401k matches" to balance out this thread. 

[firelight]

My wife's 401k plan just started offering a match:  "[employer] will contribute 10% of the employee's first 4% withheld." 

That's so low it's insulting.  Maybe we need a thread for "worst 401k matches" to balance out this thread.

So that's 10% of 4%?

[Clean Shaven]

My wife's 401k plan just started offering a match:  "[employer] will contribute 10% of the employee's first 4% withheld." 

That's so low it's insulting.  Maybe we need a thread for "worst 401k matches" to balance out this thread.

So that's 10% of 4%?

Exactly.

[Kiwi Fuzz]

Education seems to be where it's at in terms of generous company matches, wow...

In education/research as well. Company puts in 10% of salary into a 401a with no employee contributions required. In addition, the employee can contribute to a 403b up to the allowed limits.

These matches/contributions are good but salaries in education/research tend to be much lower (20-30%), when compared to industry.   Also no tenure :(

Ah, I see the trade off, then. Oh well, nothing is perfect. I'm just happy that I'm getting 4% extra free money compared to last year. :D

[honeyfill]

"In addition, rather than having a match each pay period, any match will be paid annually in a lump sum by the end of the January following the calendar year. This benefit rewards loyal employees who choose to remain at megacorp with an increased match formula. To be eligible for any match for a given year, participants generally need to remain actively employed by megacorp through and including December 15 of that year. "

What the  hell?  This means that I need to work until Dec 15 of this year to get my match!! Anyone else work for a company with this type of rule?

[GnomeErcy]

Microsoft matches 50% of your contributions, which is pretty good.

[simonsez]

Some of these are incredibly generous and it is interesting to read.  Still, I would've guessed there would be at least one highly profitable small business owner with no interest in scaling that just puts in 54k for their employees/themselves.

[cashmoney]

My company does 15% of my salary whether I contribute or not.  I doubt I'll ever find better than that. I add in another 6%.  There is a 6 year vesting schedule though.  A previous employer matched 10% of my first 3% and had some ridiculously bad funds to choose from.  So I have seen both sides of this thread.

[Lan Mandragoran]

Mying is sorta cruddy... 2.5% after 3% of mine.... however they also give me 5.5k for my HSA and 20% of my income into my pension... so thats nice :P.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

These matches above 10% are killer. I get an 8% match, which is the best I've had. The standard in my industry is 6%.

[newgirl]

My employer matches 100% of the first 6%, and then also does a non-elective 2% contribution on top of that. Their fund options are also VERY low fee, some lower than Vanguard. All in all I'm happy with my 401k.

[JetBlast]

Some of these are incredibly generous and it is interesting to read.  Still, I would've guessed there would be at least one highly profitable small business owner with no interest in scaling that just puts in 54k for their employees/themselves.

One thing I didn’t mention last year is that there’s no limit to the 16% contribution from my company.  If you reach the 415(c) limit of $55,000 for 2018, the company continues to pay the 16% as regular taxable income.

[COEE]

My previous company 10%
My current company 0%

I've been considering trying to find a new job... even if my base salary stayed the same - I'd could possibly get a 10% pay raise just in 401k company match benefits.

What a difference a year makes! 

Last company tanked this year.  New company contributes 5% automatically, matches 100% of the first 2% and 50% of the next two percent... So 8% total.  Started with a 3 year cliff. But it changed to 25% per year with a 4 yer cliff this week - trying to understand if the change effects me

I also got a 10% bump in base pay, a promise of a 15% bump after i come up to speed with their system (we'll see if that comes to pass) and up to a 30% profit sharing bonus.

[albireo13]

Wow, some of these matches are quite good.
My MegaCorp froze our pension years back and to squash the complaining, upped their match.  They now match with 7% for my first 6% of 401K contribution. 
Nothing after that.

[fat-johnny]

My career is in manufacturing:

• Company automatically contributes 5%
• Company will match half of my contribution, with their match capping at 2%
• Company will contribute at EOY, based on business conditions, an optional  0%-3%

So the minimum most people contribute is 4% to get the match.  With that, you end up at:

• min 11%  (if company's business conditions were bad)
• max 14%  (if company's business conditions were favorable)

It is a private company, and they also contribute 4% to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).  Then evaluate the value bi-annualy, and this has been VERY favorable.

I'm happy with it.
FJ

[big_slacker]

My current employer matches 50% up to the $18.5k federal tax free limit, no vesting period. Believe it or not there are several people I've worked with who DON'T take this free money because they 'can't afford it' and just about everyone in the building is making over $100k

[chaskavitch]

My current employer matches 50% up to the $18.5k federal tax free limit, no vesting period. Believe it or not there are several people I've worked with who DON'T take this free money because they 'can't afford it' and just about everyone in the building is making over $100k

That match is amazing, and people are ridiculous.  Every time anyone I work with talks about salary or benefits or taxes or saving money or if they like their job or not, I ALWAYS bring up how awesome our match is, how it's basically a 9% raise if you contribute 12%, and how everyone should do it.  I make sure to gush a little :) I'm hoping to convince them all to at least get to the max match.

I just got a raise, and I'm super excited because my employer match puts me at a $20k contribution for the next calendar year.  I'm still not maxing out my contributions (I increased them, but I'm too chicken to raise my contributions 10% all at once), but seeing that number in my spreadsheet was pretty awesome.

[seattleite]

At my last job I had a 50% match, so if I put away the $18,000 max then I'd get another $9,000 added to it. A friend of mine worked at a hedge fund and got a 200% match, that is, if she put away $18,000 then her employer added an additional $36,000 to it. Their rational was that the IRS lets them do it and it's an easy way to transfer wealth from the company to the employee so why not do it.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

My current employer matches 50% up to the $18.5k federal tax free limit, no vesting period. Believe it or not there are several people I've worked with who DON'T take this free money because they 'can't afford it' and just about everyone in the building is making over $100k

That match is amazing, and people are ridiculous.  Every time anyone I work with talks about salary or benefits or taxes or saving money or if they like their job or not, I ALWAYS bring up how awesome our match is, how it's basically a 9% raise if you contribute 12%, and how everyone should do it.  I make sure to gush a little :) I'm hoping to convince them all to at least get to the max match.

Good for you. It's easier for us to hit the max contribution (8%) because the company chips in 5% automatically, and another 1/2% for every 1% that the employee contributes. That means you can max out the match by contributing only 6% of your own money. I'm almost certain that every employee here (there are only 6 of us) contributes at least that much. The owner of the company basically tells everyone they are stupid if they don't (in more polite terms).

[NathanP]

I work for a Tier 2 engineering firm ( not Facebook or Google etc..) and receive 5% up-front plus 7.5% matching. So, if you contribute like a mustachian, you get 12.5% of your salary.

Overall I agree with the above posters that you should consider your total compensation, not just salary. My employer appears to have intelligently thought through their compensation package to minimize the tax burden on the employees. For example, my health insurance is very good and has $0 premiums.