Best 401k Matches?

[njmoney]

What are the best 401k matches people have received or heard about?  I was on an interview the other day and almost fell of the chair when the person interviewing me said they match up to 12%.  I had never heard a number so high!  Is that an unheard of match for others?

[MMMarbleheader]

10 to 12% seems standard for colleges and universities.

I get 8% before the break point and 14% after which is the best I have seen aside from the tech companies like google.

[NorthernBlitz]

I work for a University, and I think that retirement plans in this industry are typically very generous.

I'm extremely fortunate that my employer kicks in 9% of my salary if I contribute 5%. It scales somehow, but I do significantly more than 5% so I've never really looked at the contributions for other levels.

This is the new "less generous" policy. People who were hired about 5 years before us got a 10% contribution if they contributed 2% (I think).

[Ocinfo]

2% required contribution (doesn't count against $18k limit) then company contributes 7.5%. Next 10% contribution is matched at 25%. Any wages above SSWB is at 10% (versus 7.5% below). Total match is somewhere between 10 and 12% depending on salary. All is fully vested immediately.

I should mention this is a 401a and 403b due to company being a not for profit (engineering and research).

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[njmoney]

I think I'm just used to the corporate world where in my 15 to 20 years of working for large companies the standard has been somewhwere around 3.5%, so 12% was shocking to me.  Sounds like I've been working g for the wrong companies/industry!

[LurkingMustache]

I think I'm just used to the corporate world where in my 15 to 20 years of working for large companies the standard has been somewhwere around 3.5%, so 12% was shocking to me.  Sounds like I've been working g for the wrong companies/industry!

Same here..  we are 100% up to 3% and then half match up to 6%.  These are amazing numbers.  I'm jealous!

[aperture]

5% guaranteed without requirement for any contribution. -Ap

[Neverstop]

Help me understand these numbers, are they the percentage of the amount contributed?

[njmoney]

Help me understand these numbers, are they the percentage of the amount contributed?

In my initial example, to keep it simple, if I made $100,000 and put in 12% of my salary or $12,000 they would then match it by putting in $12,000.

[Duke03]

The company my father retired from would match 160% of what ever you put in.

[FI4good]

My UK firm double my contribution up to a cieling on their part of 14%.

So if put in 7% they'd put in 14%. I can and do pay more than 7% and i try to always mention increasing the match every chance i get .

[NorthernBlitz]

I think I'm just used to the corporate world where in my 15 to 20 years of working for large companies the standard has been somewhwere around 3.5%, so 12% was shocking to me.  Sounds like I've been working g for the wrong companies/industry!

I think that part of it is that we all need to look at the compensation package as a whole.

I think that I could make more money in industry as a PhD in Engineering than I do as a professor. Instead, I've elected for a compensation package where I get a strong benefits package (including the 403b match) and better job security (...at least if I'm granted tenure).

[BlueHouse]

I think that part of it is that we all need to look at the compensation package as a whole.

+1  A friend of mine was notified that his company would no longer match 401Ks.  No one except my friend said a word about it.  2 years later when the company was doing well again, no one asked for the match to be reinstated, nor for increase in salary.  He said it was like no one else realized that the match or other benefits were part of their compensation. 

[I'm a red panda]

I have a 403b. Not technically a match, but company puts in 13% and requires us to put in 2%.

Because that 2% is mandatory, it doesn't count toward the $18k max.

[Clean Shaven]

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.

[StacheInAFlash]

I get 13% to my 2.5% in a 401(a). Plus access to both a 403 and 457!

[Bateaux]

Ours was 3% from company for a long time.   Now it's 4%.  Also jealous of some of these matches.

[beastykato]

A while back when the natural gas industry was booming, a buddy of mine said that his company was matching him $1/$1 up to 15%.   I believe it was Chesapeake energy.

[CheapScholar]

I work at a university that pays 10% of your salary to a 403b and it's compulsory that you contribute 5% of your own salary.  I max out at 18K which means between my contributions and the match, I am building 27K in wealth per year without paying federal or state income taxes.

[NotJen]

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.

My XH's company used to do 25% pension and profit sharing (small biz engineering), so jealous!

My company targets profit sharing of 10% of salary 401k contribution each year. It's always been between 9.8-13%.  No employee contribution required (used to be a SEP IRA before we grew).  Pretty nice benefit.

[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.

[jorjor]

My company only matches 3%.

But then they throw in another 10% of my salary whether or not I contribute anything.

It's a pretty decent deal.

[MilwaukeeStubble]

Dollar for dollar up to 18k. (They don't match catch-up contributions).

It's a sweet deal. I love that I can get 36k/yr income tax free, but my taxable savings are a little weak.

[Mr Chin Stubble]

I don't have a match per se but, I do have "profit sharing" where they put x % of your salary into your 401k account (It's somewhere between 7-9% of your salary -- i can't remember now the exact percent).

[Mrtreasuretoupee]

My company puts in 3% if you put in 6%.  They always say it like this "We will match 50 cents per dollar if you contribute up to 6% of your pay" so if you contribute less than 6% you don't get all of the company match and if you do more than 6% they only match up to 6%.  I'm at 10%.

As a bonus they make an annual contribution of 5-6%. Mostly 5.

[Dezrah]

I'm at a company that matches 100% for the first 1% of salary contributed and then 50% after that.  It's basically an additional $9k+ for anyone who takes advantage of it.

There are a bunch of younger people here hired to replace the older folks as they rotate out.  Every chance I get I try to emphasize that this is an amazing opportunity that is NOT available at most companies.  Things are going great now, but the moment the company needs to tighten its belt a little, that match will be the first thing to go.

One colleague wanted to save for a house instead of retirement.  I went through the math with him and showed that putting it in his 401k, getting the match, letting it vest for the time required, then pulling it out later was a better move even with the penalty and a slight market loss.

[chaskavitch]

My company matches 100% of the first 6% you contribute, then another 50% of the next 6%.  So if you put in 12% of your salary, they contribute another 9%.  I thought that was pretty awesome until I saw some of the other matches on this thread!  Still, a 9% pre-tax "bonus" every year is nothing to sneeze at.  We also have excellent insurance coverage (our HDHP, with a $4000 family deductible/$6000 oop max is $204/mo for my family of 3, and my company contributes an additional $2000/yr to my HSA.)

I'm always excited at review time, because every raise I get means the company puts more money in my 401k :)

[Gondolin]

Dollar for dollar up to 18k.

But then they throw in another 10% of my salary whether or not I contribute anything.

his company was matching him $1/$1 up to 15%

Holy cow, some of these matches are INSANE! I thought I was doing pretty well at 3% match plus 2.5% bonus.

[griffam]

I work in academia and can echo what everyone else is saying. I auto-contribute 5% to the 403(b) and they put in 10% with a cliff-vesting schedule at 3 years. They also offer great investment options (large, public university), and so the rest of my money goes into a guaranteed 457(b) with great, low-cost index fund options.

My wife works for a small non-profit based in D.C., and they contribute 10% without requiring a match (she does put in extra, of course) and it is automatically vested. Fewer and more expensive fund options, however.

[kissthesky]

50%. So I put in 18k and they put in 9k. We can also put in after-tax as well and do mega backdoor roth conversion. Tech company. Very lucky. Old company matched 5%.

[Fred2004]

I'm blown away at how good those matches are!!

I had only heard of 100% match of 6% (so 6k if you made 100k).

Last 3 places I worked only did 50% of 6% (max of 3% of salary they would contribute).

Current place just dropped from 90% of 6% to 67%...I'm glad it's over 50% and have only been here 6 months, but sucks nonetheless.  It is vested immediately except they used to match per pay period (bi-weekly).  Now they only contribute after June and Dec...

[Fred2004]

50%. So I put in 18k and they put in 9k. We can also put in after-tax as well and do mega backdoor roth conversion. Tech company. Very lucky. Old company matched 5%.

Unless I'm wrong the max 401 for a married person is 24k, single 18k... (18+9 =27, which would be over the limit, so they would match 50% of 16k+8k = 24k)

[Philociraptor]

Incredible. I thought that my current job's match of 100% up to 6% was very good.

[BabyShark]

We get 100% match up to 3% and an additional 3% "safe harbor" that they're contributing now but it doesn't fully vest until I've been here 5 years.

[kissthesky]

50%. So I put in 18k and they put in 9k. We can also put in after-tax as well and do mega backdoor roth conversion. Tech company. Very lucky. Old company matched 5%.

Unless I'm wrong the max 401 for a married person is 24k, single 18k... (18+9 =27, which would be over the limit, so they would match 50% of 16k+8k = 24k)

Nope, it's actually $54k! See articles below:

https://20somethingfinance.com/maximum-employer-401k-contribution/

http://www.madfientist.com/after-tax-contributions/

[Rubyvroom]

Incredible. I thought that my current job's match of 100% up to 6% was very good.

Ditto. And my company is very proud that they are able to pay 6%. Past employers only provided tiered matches in the 3%-5% range, so I too thought 100% up to 6% was pretty dang good! Clearly I'm wrong LOL.

For an even more dismal match, my SO's match is a guaranteed 2% plus a bonus based on company performance (probably gets it in the 4%-5% range), but they only pay it out once a year... if you don't happen to be employed at payout, you're SOL.

[JordanOfGilead]

Jesus, my company match is garbage. My last employer matched up to 4.5%, but my new one only matches "50% up to 5%" which is their very vague way of sating that their match caps at 2.5% when you contribute 5%. Non-negotiable.

This combined with the recent affirmation that I am underpaid for my experience level in my field has me shopping around for employment elsewhere.

[I'm a red panda]

Jesus, my company match is garbage. My last employer matched up to 4.5%, but my new one only matches "50% up to 5%" which is their very vague way of sating that their match caps at 2.5% when you contribute 5%. Non-negotiable.

This combined with the recent affirmation that I am underpaid for my experience level in my field has me shopping around for employment elsewhere.

That actually sounds pretty standard.  My industry (educational non-profit) just has always had absurdly awesome 403b contributions- everywhere I've worked.  It makes up for other areas of the compensation.

[Fred2004]

50%. So I put in 18k and they put in 9k. We can also put in after-tax as well and do mega backdoor roth conversion. Tech company. Very lucky. Old company matched 5%.

Unless I'm wrong the max 401 for a married person is 24k, single 18k... (18+9 =27, which would be over the limit, so they would match 50% of 16k+8k = 24k)

Nope, it's actually $54k! See articles below:

https://20somethingfinance.com/maximum-employer-401k-contribution/

http://www.madfientist.com/after-tax-contributions/

Thanks!  Good to know!  For some reason I thought total contribution cap.

[RangerOne]

I am assuming that all these high matches also come coupled with decent investment options? Seems like keeping investment costs low in the long term matters a great deal as well when considering how valuable a companies 401k option is.

My company only matches 4%, based on base salary. Though our average investment cost ratio is somewhere around 0.022%. This appears to be mainly because all of our non-brokerage investment options are CIT's not publicly available, set to match funds like the  Russell 1000® Growth Index. I assume these sorts of investments are probably common for large corporations that probably have all of their remaining pensions invested in some form of CIT with a major broker.

How many of your plans are CIT's versus traditional investment indexes or mutual funds with your companies 401k broker?

I suppose at the end of the day this probably only saves us a few hundred dollars in expenses  over say an average Vanguard account with admiral shares or about $20 per 100k versus $200 per 100k, for accounts significantly smaller than 1 million dollars. There is also a flat $16.25 a quarter fee.

[NoStacheOhio]

I get 50% of contributions up to 6% (so, 3% of salary) in my 403b, plus 3.5-6% (increases with years employed) employer contributions to the 401a.

Bonus: they just upgraded all of our Vanguard funds to Institutional Plus shares!

[Ferrisbueller]

I have to contribute 5% to get the company 10%. This is on base salary.
I contribute an additional 10%.

[Ferrisbueller]

I forgot to say i work in financial services.

Best defined contribution (defined benefit company contributions can be much higher) company contribution ive heard was 25% of base salary offered by a bank with no required employee contribution.

[I'm a red panda]

I am assuming that all these high matches also come coupled with decent investment options? Seems like keeping investment costs low in the long term matters a great deal as well when considering how valuable a companies 401k option is.

We have a huge number of choices through TIAA.  The expense ratios aren't quite as low as Vanguard Admiral shares, but there are a number of very good low cost, high rated funds.

Even if the fees were ridiculous, getting 13% from the company is free money, since I only have to put 2% in.  (Then I chose to put in my $18k.)

[boarder42]

I get 14.25% total retirement contribution. 11% into ESOP. And 3.25% into 401k. We're an employee owned scorp. It's ridiculously amazing what we return on our ESOP

We have great options 2 black Rock indexes. Mid and large cap. Total cost including all 401k fees are sub .05%

[Rubyvroom]

I haven't seen anyone mention vesting (or maybe I skimmed too fast).

My current employer recently changed to 100% vested employer contributions, but prior to that it took 4 years to be fully vested in their match. My previous employers had a vesting schedule as well if I remember right, in the 4-5 year range.

I'm curious if anyone else has a vesting schedules in their plans. I know I overlooked that part of my reply because we're 100% vested now so I didn't think of it.

[NorthernBlitz]

I think that part of it is that we all need to look at the compensation package as a whole.

+1  A friend of mine was notified that his company would no longer match 401Ks.  No one except my friend said a word about it.  2 years later when the company was doing well again, no one asked for the match to be reinstated, nor for increase in salary.  He said it was like no one else realized that the match or other benefits were part of their compensation.

I've started doing "Financial Fridays" in my classes in the 5-10 minutes we have before class starts. One of the topics I talk about is negotiating your first salary. I stress to them that they need to look at the total compensation package. While you can't negotiate the 401k match, you need to consider it. I've also heard (on podcasts and such) that some companies are now offering to match student loan payments. My understanding is that most companies cannot move too much on salary for starting employees, but there are other goodies like this (and moving expenses) that can certainly help.

I am assuming that all these high matches also come coupled with decent investment options?

We're very fortunate with the options that we have. The plan is set up through Fidelity and we have options for Vanguard Institutional Funds (sp500, international stock, and US bond; Vanguard target date funds are also available). Apparently, there is a board of faculty members who curate the investment options that are available in the plan. I believe that we also have the option to invest outside of the funds provided, but the choices are pretty much what I would pick to so I don't go through the hassle (though I would prefer I would prefer VITPX-total market to VINIX-sp500).

[I'm a red panda]

I haven't seen anyone mention vesting (or maybe I skimmed too fast).

My current employer recently changed to 100% vested employer contributions, but prior to that it took 4 years to be fully vested in their match. My previous employers had a vesting schedule as well if I remember right, in the 4-5 year range.

I'm curious if anyone else has a vesting schedules in their plans. I know I overlooked that part of my reply because we're 100% vested now so I didn't think of it.

The company I work at now does 2 year 100% vesting.  My two previous companies had a 5-year schedule with you getting 20% more each year.
My husband's current company has a 7-year vesting schedule, which seems insanely long to me.

[NorthernBlitz]

I haven't seen anyone mention vesting (or maybe I skimmed too fast).

We have a 1 year vesting period. If you were employed for by a University the year before you were hired, that can count toward the vesting period (i.e. my time as a postdoc counted when I got a letter from my previous institution).

[Ocinfo]

I am assuming that all these high matches also come coupled with decent investment options? Seems like keeping investment costs low in the long term matters a great deal as well when considering how valuable a companies 401k option is.

My company only matches 4%, based on base salary. Though our average investment cost ratio is somewhere around 0.022%. This appears to be mainly because all of our non-brokerage investment options are CIT's not publicly available, set to match funds like the  Russell 1000 Growth Index. I assume these sorts of investments are probably common for large corporations that probably have all of their remaining pensions invested in some form of CIT with a major broker.

How many of your plans are CIT's versus traditional investment indexes or mutual funds with your companies 401k broker?

I suppose at the end of the day this probably only saves us a few hundred dollars in expenses  over say an average Vanguard account with admiral shares or about $20 per 100k versus $200 per 100k, for accounts significantly smaller than 1 million dollars. There is also a flat $16.25 a quarter fee.

I'm one of the lucky ones with a 10-12% "match". We have extremely low fares through Fidelity. It's setup such that my company does some of the administration so Fidelity actually provides a fee credit back to the account. For example, the Fidelity total market fund (FSTVX) has a .04% fee but I routinely get a credit deposited to my account paying me back for most of the fee costs...


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