# What's your Employers 401K Matching Policy? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492 "2011-07-18T20:33:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/21 "2011-07-18T23:53:11Z")
You didn’t go high enough. At my University we automatically pay 5% then match the employee up to 10%. so, if the employee contributes 6% we pay 6%. 7%-7% up to 10%-10%. we are a 403(b) plan. Somewhat similar to 401(k) The lifetime deferred tax cap is a huge headache for our benefits coordinator. She constantly has to check and recheck that our higher paid employees don’t exceed the deferred tax cap. It’s easily done if someone makes over 80k a year. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/22 "2011-07-19T00:09:04Z")
6% vested in 3 years. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/23 "2011-07-19T00:16:24Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > 0%, because it’s not a matching plan. They contribute based on profits. This. 10% this year IIRC, no contribution needed. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/24 "2011-07-19T00:28:15Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > So how is this different than 4.5%? > > I assume this means that they will match 4.5% of your salary, but in order to get that 4.5% you need to contribute 6%. If you contribute just 5% they’ll match 3.75%, correct? If you contribute 8% they still only match 4.5%, right? Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/25 "2011-07-19T00:29:37Z")
All employers have to pay a minimum of 9% here. Mine pays more because I’m in a defined benefit pension plan (to which I contribute 10%). ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/26 "2011-07-19T00:38:04Z")
Zero. But our 401Ks are optional cherrys on top. We get a defined benefit pension as our primary retirement plan. ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/27 "2011-07-19T00:58:17Z")
0 currently. Before 2008 it was a full match up to 6%. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/28 "2011-07-19T01:47:18Z")
I couldn’t pick one of your choices because my employer does not offer contributions that match the employee’s contribution. Instead we have a profit-sharing plan and each employee’s share is deposited to their 401(k) annually. There is some complicated formula that determines what that amount is, according to federal regulations. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/29 "2011-07-19T01:51:32Z")
$20/month :rolleyes: That rounds down to 0 as per the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/30 "2011-07-19T01:58:43Z")
None. My company’s policy would be to design / market Anti- 401-K plans with marketing designed to entrap employees into joining and thus activating hidden contractual embezzlement clauses designed to allow the company to drain funds out of your pre-existing 401-k plans formed from prior companies. The proceeds of this would then be used for [del]executive hookers & blow[/del] company discretionary use. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/31 "2011-07-19T02:17:30Z")
ROFL!!! Good one, OP. 0%. But word on the street is the retirement program is pretty decent. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/32 "2011-07-19T03:39:24Z")
50% up to 6% of salary, so 3%. Until 2010 it was 25% up to 4%, or 1%, which just seems kind of like a token program to say “we have matching!”. ---
**Author:** ![AnnaLucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e95f7d/32.png) [@AnnaLucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnnaLucretia)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/33 "2011-07-19T12:34:44Z")
Mine is $0.25 for every $1 I put in up to the federal max - so whatever that percentage is. 5 year vesting, but we’re also an employee-owned company so another 7% goes into ESOP annually, no contribution required (also on a 5 year vest). ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/34 "2011-07-19T12:39:41Z")
50% match until they’ve contributed $2500, IIRC - and its possible I don’t. So if you put in $1000, they put in $500. If you put in $5000, they put in $2500. If you put in $10,000, they put in $2500. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/35 "2011-07-19T12:43:39Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > $20/month :rolleyes: That rounds down to 0 as per the OP. But remember, with compound interest, when you retire after forty years with the company that $20 per month will turn into nearly ten thousand dollars! Which, after forty years of inflation, will be able to support your retirement lifestyle for over ten minutes! Seriously, what statement are they trying to make with that? “You have to work until you keel over dead.”? ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/36 "2011-07-19T14:39:06Z")
We have no matching (at least for attorneys, I don’t know about admin staff). I’ve been told by an HR person that the purpose of matching is to entice lower-level folks to participate so the plan isn’t too “top-heavy.” If that’s true, then you folks with low or no matching work for companies that think ýou are smart ebough to save for your retirement without being enticed to do so, so that’s good I guess. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/37 "2011-07-19T14:50:35Z")
Ours increases with years of service. As long as the employee is putting in at least 2%, it is 3% for years 1-4, 5% for years 5-9, 7% for years 10 - 19, and 8% after that. Vested after 1 year. I had been under the impression that that was pretty good but, seeing some other answers, I’m not so sure. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/38 "2011-07-19T14:55:16Z")
Yeah, none. And no profit sharing or anything. My company’s a “start-up” that’s now 12 years old and growing. But they’re still able to get labor reasonably cheap, so there’s no pressure for them to change their policies. I really don’t know if they will. I work here because they pay me pretty well and I’m getting to learn the current “big thing” in technology in my field. Hey, they use me, I use them. But the 401k matching sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/39 "2011-07-19T14:58:02Z")
I didn’t vote, because I’m not sure. I work for a non-profit, and we only get 401k matching when the money is there. Last year was profitable, so we got matching, new computers, and new chairs (the latter two very much needed). The past couple of years we were in the red, so no 401k matching. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492/40 "2011-07-19T15:07:05Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > 0%, because it’s not a matching plan. They contribute based on profits. Same. Even if you do not contribute a dime, money is still deposited on your behalf. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-employers-401k-matching-policy/589492.md?page=3)