401K Company Matching Amounts

[kjpliny]

My company used to match 3% of salary and also contributed another 5% into a cash balance pension, but after acquisition by a larger company, the pension contributions stopped and the 401k match went up to 6% (loss of 2%). Bummer.

 

[MRG]

Early 80s Megacorp had profit sharing. They contributed an unspoken 10% , sometimes more. In a managed fund, with them picking up the 1% fee.

Before Y2K they added a 401k to be more competitive in the hunt for talent. They matched 100% of the first 3%, you could contribute more(15%) but I was generally limited by HCE. At that time the profit sharing contribution dropped to 4%.

There was also an ESOP program for a while, after the IPO. There were some hefty contributions made, at least in number of shares. Had I just kept the stock at the current price that would be ~ 1.2m. Unfortunately I didn't receive that amount.

 

[Hyperborea]

I've had a number of different matchings usually in the similar ranges mentioned by others with some having the limit based on the paycheck. One of those did a make up matching contribution if you were still an employee at the time that happened.

The last company that I w*rked for gave a really good matching. The first $5k was matched dollar for dollar OR you got a 50% match on your (regular not 50+ catch-up) contribution. Whichever of those two gave you a better match you got. They also allowed in-service withdrawals so a lot of folks were doing mega-backdoor Roth contributions. To top it off our yearly bonus could be dropped into a deferred compensation plan. My bonuses have all gone into that. It pays out this year (a set amount of time after separation) and will put me into a high tax bracket this year but the average tax rate on it will be much lower than having paid my marginal tax rate on all of it over the years.

 

[Shanky]

Many Mega-Corps had SERP (Supplemental Executive Retirement Programs) for getting around ERISA limitations on matching. For employees making north of $300K or so, even a max contribution to the 401K program would not allow sufficient matching to enable a retirement anywhere 50% of their working Pay. Some if these allowed contributions and a match, others just topped of the ERISA limited pensions without contributions. On the downside, these programs are not protected if your company declares bankruptcy. It can all just "disappear". Ask how I know....

 

[nun]

My first US employer put 15% of my salary into a 403(b) and I didn't have to contribute a dime.

My 2nd US employer put 2% of my salary into a 401(k) and I didn't have to contribute a dime.

Ahh the good old days. My first employer was the Smithsonian Institution and they contributed 16% of salary to a 403b irrespective of what I put in.....that was 30 years ago.

So my history of employer matches is

16% to 403b
I have kept this in TIAA-Traditional for 30 years and it's now around 5% of my retirement funds

50% match up to 6% in a 401k
I rolled this over to a Vanguard IRA when I left.

50% match up to 6% in a 401k plus a final salary pension
I rolled the 401k into an IRA when I left and took a lump sum from the final salary pension which also went into the IRA.

Mandatory 11% employee contribution and 5% employer match to a 401a final salary pension.
I vested in that pension and began to get payments this year at age 55.


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Cobra9777]

Megacorp matched employee contributions dollar-for-dollar up to 2% of salary, including bonus. But this was for employees like me who elected to stay with the DB pension plan in the late 1990s. Employees who opted out of the DB pension, and all new employees from that point forward, received a dollar-for-dollar match up to 4% of salary, plus bonus.

DW had no match on a 457b plan but her government pension was pretty good. She contributed a certain % of pay, which earned interest, and they matched the account balance 2-for-1 at retirement. That total amount was then converted to an annuity payout with partial COLA.

 

[rodi]

Most of my career was spent working for the same company... sort of... (Many name changes as we were acquired, spun off, merged, sold off, etc.)

Originally it was 50% on first 6% (so 3% from company if you contributed 6% or more)

Then they froze the pension but compensated for that because they upped the 401k match to 50% on the first 9% (or 4.5% if you contributed 9% or more).

Then they dropped it back to 3% if you contributed 6%.

Then we were sold to a company that only matched 2%

My husband worked for small/medium size architectural firms. Many had no 401k - and those that did tended to put $1000 in participating employees accounts. Add to that they often had expensive/loaded funds. Benefits in general were crappier in his field... health benefits cost more and often were for employer only - no family coverage. I guess that's the difference between a 30-50 person company vs a 10k person (or more) megacorp.

 

[Clone]

Megacorp had a varying match for the 401k. Most of the time it was 1$ per 1$ on the first 6%. That went as high as $1.5:1 during the good years, and $0.50:1 during the down years.

There was a change to the pension program. Folks on the new plan did not have the same pension calculation, and it was hard to figure out if it would be a better deal or not. The folks who were grandfathered in to the original plan had the option of switching to the new plan. I only know of a few people that switched. If you switched to the new plan, the 401k match was $2 for $1 on the 1st 2%, then the 1:1 for the next 4%. They would vary the 1:1 to as high as 1.5:1 or as low as .5:1 depending on profitability.

 

[NgineER]

First mega corp: $ for $ matching up to 6% and 3% on top of that for a total contribution of 9% for 6% contributed.

Second mega corp: $ for $ matching up to 6% and 3% on top of that for a total contribution of 9% for 6% contributed. Recently dropped to: $ for $ matching up to 5% and 3% on top of that for a total contribution of 8% for 5% contributed.

 

[pb4uski]

My last employer matched 50% on the first 6% saved each pay period, so the best strategy was to structure your withholdings so you had at least 6% each pay period.... I usually saved the max, but had to spread it out throughout the year by changing my withdrawal after I got my bonus and raise.

In addition to that, they had a DC plan that they contributed 7% of earnings to (for people at my level... lower at lower levels).

Overall very good benefits.

 

[Ronstar]

We started out at 50% on the first 10%. But we had some non-discriminatory testing issues and switched to a safe harbor with 3% to all employees.

 

[growing_older]

Match has always been paycheck by paycheck with no true up or catch up of any sort.

0%
0%
0%
50% of first 4%
0%
100% of first 2%
100% of first 3%
100% of first 2% plus 50% of next 2% for a total of 3%
100% of first 4% Safe Harbor

 

[38Chevy454]

401k = 2/3 match up to 6% of my contribution; or put simply the company gives 4% when you save 6%.

I also get additional 6% as a defined contribution payment, where I don't have to contribute anything.

So for a younger person, if they save just 6% of salary, they get effectively 16% savings rate. Do that for 25-30 years and you should have a pretty good nestegg, assuming it is invested smart and not in some 1-2% savings account

 

[jonnyb433]

401k match in Natural Resources sector

Hi all, on my third megacorp ATM in the natural resources sector and here's the rundown.
Megacorp#1 - big multinational, 100% match on the first 6% contributed. Plus an additional 6% company contribution, as a proxy for no longer offering a defined benefit pension plan.
Megacorp#2 - another big multinational. Exact same arrangement as the first. Of note, once your salary plus 50% of your bonus exceeded the social security wage base ($118.5k for 2017) then they increased the pension proxy amount from 6% to 11.7%. Was pretty sweet
Megacorp#3 - another big multinational, my current gig. This one matches 100% of your first 5% contributed, and chips in an additional 4% company contribution. Must stay 3 years for the 4% company contribution to vest.

 

[growerVon]

A software company in Redmond, WA, used to match 50% of my contributions - up to 6%, so effectively a 3% match. Recent generosity has changed this to a flat 50% match... only limited by the employee's contributions gated by the IRS. So 18k + 9k in matching. Don't yet know how they handle the 50yrs+ catchup contributions.

 

[Pilot2013]

Mine is a 3% contribution, whether employee contributes or not, then an additional UP TO 3.5% based on company performance for that year.

Wife's is 50% match up to 6%.

 

[whatnot]

Employer matches 100% up to 7% of salary after 15 years of service.

 

[2017ish]

A software company in Redmond, WA, used to match 50% of my contributions - up to 6%, so effectively a 3% match. Recent generosity has changed this to a flat 50% match... only limited by the employee's contributions gated by the IRS. So 18k + 9k in matching. Don't yet know how they handle the 50yrs+ catchup contributions.

That is what D.I.L. is getting at a very large company headquartered in mountain view, CA (she starts next month)

Even in NorCal tech, very company dependent though. Son gets no match at a small second stage company. (But, he is hardware, not software, engineer)

 

[Taxman59]

I had a 401(k) that started out with a 500% match of the first 1% we put in. It amazed me how many people didn't put in $300 to get $1500 of company $$, all money fully vested. We also had a generous pension. Fast forward 13 years, and the pension was scrapped (a nice lump sum payout, but I would have rather continued the pension) and we went to a layered 401(k) contribution, everyone got 3%, the top levels got an additional 10+% (it depended on the lower level contribution rates), the mid-level got an additional 4.5% and the low level employees got an additional 3%. By maxing out every year since 1993, I was able to pull the trigger at 56. Some who wouldn't contribute to get the match in the early years are scrimping on SSI and meager 401(k) bucks with part-time w*rk to make ends meet.

 

[athena53]

Memory is rusty on some of my earlier jobs, but...

First employer that announced a 401(k) rollout was in 1983. an agreement was made for another company, which did not have a 401(k), to acquire us, so we had to wait till they had one-maybe another year.

Company I joined after I left there had, I believe, 50% matching on the first 6% or 100% on the first 3%. You vested 20% per year in the company match, so had to be there 5 years to get it all.

Worked for a couple of small consulting firms after that- one had no 401(k), the other had a 401(k) with contributions based on profit, which were never very generous.

Joined a mega-corp after that in 2002, with terriblieinvestment options, 100% match on the first 6%, vested immediately. Thy did have a DB plan, though. We were acquired in 2006 by a company without a DB plan, much better investment options, 100% on the first 6%, PLUS 6% regardless because we weren't eligible for their recently-closed DB plan. SO- put in 6%, get 12% on top of that.

Never had an employer match catch-up contributions or include bonuses in the 401(k) plan.

One nasty development which I hope hasn't been widely emulated: Chubb made its matching contribution at the end of the year. You leave 12/30, you don't get any match for the entire year. Must have made for a lot of resignations in January.

 

[Ed B]

I can save up to 25% of salary but only 8% is matched, 50 cents on the dollar in company stock. The match is paid to the 401K account each week/pay period.

 

[Andre1969]

I've had four different 401k plans now, and here's how they've gone down...
1) 25% match up to 4% of your pay. Or effectively, 1% max. However, that company had a pension. That was McDonnell-Douglas, if anyone's curious. When we did that merger of unequals with Boeing back in '97, we were still on the old "Mickey-Dee's" plan, rather than the more generous Boeing plan.
2) 100% match up to 3% of your pay.
3) 4% of your pay, whether you contributed anything or not. That company was pretty cool.
4) Currently 100% match up to 4%.

 

[Big_Hitter]

we get 50% of the first 6% (i.e. 3%) plus a 10% ps contribution

 

[mrfeh]

100% match for the first 3% I contribute.
50% match on the next 2% I contribute.

Put more simply - 4% match. This has been my situation for 20 years.

 

[neihn]

Currently Mega corp put 3% into 401k automatically and match 5%. Pretty good deal I thought.