What's your 401k match?

[HPstache]

My company matches the first 3% then another 1% for your 2%. So in other words if you put in 5% they match 4%.  Six years to be fully vested... I am already there... how time flies!

[SpareChange]

My match is 4.6% if I contribute 4%. It is dropped as an annual lump sum after the end of the calender year. Vesting is 100% at 5 years, 0% before.

[Kouhri]

Not a 401k  (cuz not American ) but get 6% match for kiwisaver* whoot!

*kiwisaver is the national super type scheme and employers are obliged to provide a 3% match and apart from District health boards, I haven't heard of anyone else getting more than the minimum. So yay!

[rencelas]

Match 75% up to 6% of salary. Give us 2% no matter what.

Ends up that if I put in 6, they put in 6.5. That's the maximum. Thankfully, we have a Roth 401k option AND can do after tax deposits. Maxing all that out to the legal limit.

[seattleite]

50% match on your contribution up to the max they are allowed by law. So I contribute $18,000 and they contribute 9,000.

[MVal]

My company gives 5% on 100% of base salary and everyone is fully vested from first date of hire. We also usually profit sharing contributions added to our 401k annually.

[StacheInAFlash]

I have a 401(a) with a delightful 13% match to my mandatory 2%. Pretty sweet deal. 3 year waiting period before eligibility was not sweet though. Automatic vesting, however, and the whole thing goes in dirt cheap vanguard index funds. Then there is also the 403(b) and the 457(b) (in Vanguard!) that also let me put another $36,000 tax deferred away. No other employer can come close to that that I've looked at. While the pay could be higher, I have to remind myself that the tax savings of these retirement plans is worth $12,000 of salary when I compare to outside job offers.

[Dictionary Time]

We don't have a match. They just put in 10% for you. I work retail and most people (long term employees) only have this saved. They do offer a 401k that you can put in too. It's nice with the low wages and so many people I work with are literally hand-to-mouth, that at least they will end up with something to go with their social security.

Husband's company matches 50% of the first 6%, so put in 6%, get another 3%.

[HPstache]

50% match on your contribution up to the max they are allowed by law. So I contribute $18,000 and they contribute 9,000.

Wow! Lucky...

[LeRainDrop]

As typical working in a big law firm, no employer match or contribution for associate attorneys.  (Staff get an annual contribution, and I believe the income partners do, as well.)

[FIRE me]

Contribute 5% or more, then get a 4% match.

[YTProphet]

As typical working in a big law firm, no employer match or contribution for associate attorneys.  (Staff get an annual contribution, and I believe the income partners do, as well.)

Go in-house! Way better lifestyle and much more relaxed (although the pay could be higher).

[smalllife]

3% match that gets vested over 6 years (recently extended from five, so I effectively got no match last year).  Employees not allowed to contribute until after 1 year of service.

aka - practically worthless when combined with the high fees (.4 is the lowest).

[WGH]

We do pre tax I put in 3% they put in 15% so I put in a $1 they put in $5 so it is huge!

After tax I put in 4% they put in 2% so I put in $1 they put in $.50 so a 50% match

Boils down to 7% of my annual salary and they kick in 17% every year.

It's the best plan I have ever seen and a huge reason why I will stick around.

[maco]

Old employer was 5%. New is 2% but with 1% going into each of two pension plans that I don't really understand. I just started, though, so matching hasn't started yet.

[CCCA]

No match for me, but I do get a pension, and can contribute with no match to 403b/457b.
My wife gets 10% of her salary in matching if she puts in 4%.

[Jeremy E.]

I put 9%+ although this is technically not accurate, my company has an ESOP(Employee Stock Ownership Plan) where they give me company stock equal to 10-15% of my salary every year, it's been 14-15% each of the 4 years I've been here so far. It's risky having so much stock in one company, but it's free stock so I can't complain.

[windawake]

I replied to this back in the day, but I now have a different job and they have an interesting 401k match. They will contribute up to a certain percentage of the total amount you contribute. The match is contributed in a lump sum at the beginning of the following year, and you don't know how much they'll match until they're about to do it. Last year it was 35%, the year before was 25%. Meaning if I'd contributed the full $17,500 they would've contributed $6,125. It's immediately vested.

It's a pretty sweet deal, I think I'll be a little shy of the max at $14k or so this year, so that'll be just under $5k match, or more if they up the percentage again.

[grenzbegriff]

I put 9%+ although this is technically not accurate, my company has an ESOP(Employee Stock Ownership Plan) where they give me company stock equal to 10-15% of my salary every year, it's been 14-15% each of the 4 years I've been here so far. It's risky having so much stock in one company, but it's free stock so I can't complain.

Do you have the option to sell the stock?  My company grants stock as well, and I sell it immediately when it vests and put the money in index funds.  Not selling it when you can is no different than buying stock in that one company, which is something I wouldn't do.

[amyj05]

My company matches 100% for the first 3% that you put in, then 50% for the next 2%. So if you put in 5% (or more), you get the full company match, which is 4%. It will be fully vested at 5 years of employment - October was three years for me.

[Platypuses]

Free 5% of Salary
First 3% of Salary = 100% Match
Next 6% of Salary = 50% Match

So 11% Of Salary

[michaelrecycles]

I'm impressed by the generosity some of the responses indicate! I've only ever learned about 401k/match details at the job offer stage, when given a benefits summary guide. It would be nice to know earlier, as a consideration before applying. Does anyone know a website that compares company plans? www.brightscope.com is the only one I've found. Its "company generosity" rating gives you an idea, but not the level of detail we're getting into here. If a prospective company requires you to wait a year to even participate and offers a crummy match, I'd rather know ahead of time and focus elsewhere.

In any case, my situation has changed since replying before. The new company matches 100% for your first 3% contribution, then 50% for your next 2%. You get the full 4% match by investing 5% or more. There is no participation waiting period; you can invest in the plan immediately. Company contributions begin 1 year after you start service and vest immediately. A nice feature of the plan is that after-tax non-Roth contributions are allowed and you can do an in-service withdrawal to a Roth. Also known as the Mega Backdoor Roth, MadFientist explains why you might want to take advantage of this, if available to you.

[jorjor]

50% of first 6%, and an additional 10% lump sum contribution every February for a total of 13%.

My wife's is 2%, and it moves down to 1% next year with some pretty bad investment options.

[Jeremy E.]

I put 9%+ although this is technically not accurate, my company has an ESOP(Employee Stock Ownership Plan) where they give me company stock equal to 10-15% of my salary every year, it's been 14-15% each of the 4 years I've been here so far. It's risky having so much stock in one company, but it's free stock so I can't complain.

Do you have the option to sell the stock?  My company grants stock as well, and I sell it immediately when it vests and put the money in index funds.  Not selling it when you can is no different than buying stock in that one company, which is something I wouldn't do.

I don't have this option, they recently started letting people 55+ that have been here over 10 years sell 10% per year, but I'm not in either of those categories so am stuck with their stock until I leave the company.
Also my vesting period starts after 1 year, then goes up 20% per year, so i get nothing the first year, then I start vesting but am vested at 0% and after 6 years I'm 100% vested.
They also offer a 401k without match as well and they offer the fund VINIX(very low expense ratio S&P 500) which I put 100% of my 401k into, it's better than any fund I can get in my IRA. I'm very happy with the offerings of my company and feel very lucky.

[neophyte]

Mine is pretty good. They give us 1% and then match 1:1 up to 5% of salary. Vested after 3 years.

My sister's is terrible. They get 10% of their contribution up to 5% of their salary, so the match maxes out at 0.5%. They aren't fully vested for something like 6 or 7 years either.

[Valetta]

Ours is pretty good for a nonprofit. You can start in the 401k immediately, no waiting period. But there is a waiting period for the match, you have to have worked there for 1 year before they will start matching but then you are vested immediately. 100% match up to 3% of salary and then 50% match at 4-5%. So if you do 5% you get a 4% match. I've never had a deal this good at any of the other nonprofits I have worked for.

For executives, we also have 457f plans. With Board of Directors approval, 10% of my salary goes in there every year. So far they've done the 10% the last two years for me (as long as we've had the plans). However, the only way I get this money is if I work there until I'm 65. So I just pretend this benefit doesn't exist, haven't even bothered to choose investments for the money.

[NinetyFour]

I don't have a match.  But I must contribute 8% and my employer contributes 11.2%.  These are mandatory and can't be increased.  However, I also have a 403b option, into which I can put another $24,000 per year, since I am old.

[NoStacheOhio]

On my 403b, it's a 3% match (half of my contributions up to 6% of my salary).

We also have a 401a that I can't contribute to. Last year they put in $1208.04, and 2015 YTD is $1238.50. I can't for the life of me figure out the contribution math there.

[thd7t]

My 4% match was terminated in April.  Bad time.

[AlwaysLearningToSave]

Employer contributes 3%.  Employer also makes an optional 1% safe harbor contribution.  Then employer gives 100% match on first 4% of salary.  Thus, if I contribute 4%, I get 8% from employer, for 12% total. 100% vested immediately.  There was a one-year waiting period before I was allowed to participate in the plan.

[Lizzy B.]

Not a match, but automatic contributions of 9%, regardless of your personal contributions. So that's pretty awesome.

Our vesting is rough, though. 0% vested until 3 years, then you get 20% vested each year, so it takes 6 years to fully vest

[StacheInAFlash]

Not a match, but automatic contributions of 9%, regardless of your personal contributions. So that's pretty awesome.

Our vesting is rough, though. 0% vested until 3 years, then you get 20% vested each year, so it takes 6 years to fully vest

It seems like the awesome employer matches often come with a catch. It is partially how they afford to be so generous, knowing that a lot of people will end up getting nothing or very little by not sticking around long enough. Just be thankful you still got contributions the 1st 3 years (even if not vested). At my place, the first 3 years you have to sit on the sidelines before they start kicking anything in. Of course once they do, it is 13%, but a lot of people probably don't make it 3 years. Or, if you quit after 4 years you'd be wishing you had a 4% match all 4 years instead of 0% for 3 and 13% for 1.

[Lizzy B.]

Not a match, but automatic contributions of 9%, regardless of your personal contributions. So that's pretty awesome.

Our vesting is rough, though. 0% vested until 3 years, then you get 20% vested each year, so it takes 6 years to fully vest

It seems like the awesome employer matches often come with a catch. It is partially how they afford to be so generous, knowing that a lot of people will end up getting nothing or very little by not sticking around long enough. Just be thankful you still got contributions the 1st 3 years (even if not vested). At my place, the first 3 years you have to sit on the sidelines before they start kicking anything in. Of course once they do, it is 13%, but a lot of people probably don't make it 3 years. Or, if you quit after 4 years you'd be wishing you had a 4% match all 4 years instead of 0% for 3 and 13% for 1.

Oh, I'm definitely thankful for it. I think they'd had a big problem with people leaving to work for competitors just when they'd gotten fully trained. This system certainly encourages you to stick around. :-)

[ponyespresso]

DH has an awesome match, I think. 6% matching, and also a 5.5% non-elective contribution from his employer. The latter is based on years of service.

Next year I will get a 4% match from my company (it's actually my own company, I set up the plan). I guess I should be a more generous boss and set it up for 6% but it's a start. I was thinking maybe we'd do a non-elective contribution at some point as well. My partner has a say though, too and he prefers the 4% for now.

[JPatch]

Mine was 75% of first 6% contributed (so 4.5% of salary).

However, my company may be nixing its cash balance pension plan very soon.  Part of the proposed change is 100% match on first 6% to 401K PLUS an automatic contribution of employer $$ equal to 6% of employee salary.  So essentially a 12% match!  I like it.

[Mr. FI]

My wife's matches 87.5% up to 8%, vests after 3 years (so 7%). My company matches 125% up to 4% (so 5%) and vests after 3 years. Both are pretty decent!

[JLee]

A lot of you have pretty awesome matches! I've never had anything better than 3.5%.

[Helvegen]

3% to 6% of salary subject to vesting.
2% of salary, not subject to vesting/matching/any participation at all. Will go up to 4% Jan 1.

So it is 5% matching until the end of the year, whereby it then goes up to 7%.

[freezerburn]

At my nonprofit we get a 1:1 match of 4% on the 401(k). It was a year's wait to participate in the plan, then another year until vesting. We are supposedly getting a bump up to 5% match in about 6 months.

[JZinCO]

I am now under a defined contribution 401(a). I am obliged to put in 8% (of salary) and the employer 11%. My employer isn't much behind peers in the state, which range from 11.1% to 11.4%, but notably different than one other peer which puts in 16.2% (10% plus employer pays for employee's social security).
Oh, also 100% vested day 1. Employer contributions are deposited on payday.