#retirementplan

If you aren’t close to 55 good luck ever reaching retirement.

Early retirement is close. Is it smart to jump now or should I wait? My wife says take the plunge since her insurance covers us, but I'm still not sure.

Story by Celia Bernhardt, Sarah Nassauer

The tax benefits of putting money into a 401(k) are well known. But not all 401(k) plans are created equal.

Take Costco, for instance. Many thousands of the retailer’s front-line, hourly workers have managed to amass over $1 million in their 401(k) accounts, thanks in part to a contribution that Costco makes whether or not the employees themselves are putting money in.

For employees with at least a year of service, Costco contributes an amount equivalent to 4% of their pay. That rises as employees accrue tenure, so workers who have been with Costco for 25 years or more receive a 9% contribution. The company also has a small match that allows employees to receive up to an additional $500 annually if they contribute $1,000.

For Costco, it’s one of the ways, alongside inexpensive healthcare and higher-than-normal hourly wages, that it retains experienced employees. The company places a premium on keeping turnover low, a strategy its founders believed would reduce costs associated with training new hires and lead to better customer service.

Some companies go far and beyond, offering jealousy-inducing match rates to win over prime talent. Employers in specialized fields who want to stay neck-in-neck with their rivals often conduct benchmark surveys to assess what kind of benefits are most attractive to their staff and what is offered by other companies.

Here’s a look at other better-than-usual retirement benefits offered by employers across industries.

A high match rate
The average company 401(k) match is about 4.7% of eligible salary, according to a Vanguard analysis of plans it manages. Only 6% of those plans offered a promised matching contribution totaling 7% or above in 2025.

A select few employers hungry for talent go well beyond that.

Southwest Airlines, for example, offered a dollar-for-dollar match of up to 9.3% of employees’ salaries in 2024. Boeing boasts an even higher one of 10%.

Competing credit-card giants Visa and Mastercard offer better than a dollar-for-dollar match. Visa will put in $2 for every $1 that an employee deposits in their 401(k), up to the first 5% of their pay; Mastercard puts in $1.67 for every $1 on the first 6%. Both of those add up to a 10% total employer contribution, but employees don’t need to put away as much in order to get it.

Although the most important number is that 10% total match, the warp speed matching rates are attractive, said Chris West, a managing director at human-resources consulting firm WTW.

“It’s distinctive,” West said. “It probably creates really strong incentives for employees to contribute. It’s also really easy to communicate.”

Nonelective contributions
With a limited matching program, the strength of Costco’s 401(k) lies in its nonelective—or nonmatching—contributions.

Nonmatching contributions are often structured as profit-sharing plans or, less commonly, as an employee stock ownership plan. Of the plans included in Vanguard’s report, 37% used both matching and nonmatching contributions; 11% used solely the latter.

Tobacco company Altria Group matches employees up to 3%—but add that to its profit-sharing plan and workers get a whopping 13% to 17% employer contribution in total. The Aerospace Corp., a nonprofit government contractor, also uses a 3% match but provides a total of 12% for the longest-tenured employees through added nonelective contributions.

The practice is more common in some fields than others. Legal-services firms are disproportionately likely to opt for nonmatching contributions alone, according to Vanguard data.

Unionized workers at Ford and General Motors receive a 10% nonelective contribution as their retirement plan. The employer contributions were bumped up from 6.4% as part of contract negotiations in 2023. Both automakers transitioned away from offering pensions to new hires about two decades ago.

An employee stock ownership plan, a specialized retirement plan to which a company contributes shares of its stock, is often offered in combination with a 401(k). ESOPs are most common in sectors including manufacturing, construction and engineering. The structure is thought to give workers a sense of investment in a company’s success and, in some circumstances, provides the business a tax break.

Publix, a Florida-based grocer, automatically provides employees with shares of the company’s stock after they have clocked in 1,000 hours within a year and offers an option for them to purchase more.

Stewart’s Shops, a regional gas and ice-cream chain in Vermont and upstate New York, operates an ESOP-only program in lieu of a 401(k). The company says its employees have seen retirement contributions of 17% on average in the past five years.

Publix and Stewart’s both say that some of their cashiers have become millionaires through stock ownership. Stewart’s puts the number at over 200.

Student-loan benefits
Boeing’s benefits don’t stop with a good match—it is among a growing group of employers that allow workers to receive matching contributions for some of their student-loan payments. A Boeing worker who puts 10% of their salary toward paying off a qualified loan will get a matching amount from the company in their 401(k).

It’s a relatively new program launched after the passage of the federal Secure 2.0 Act in 2022. That bill expanded the features employers can include in their retirement plans. Among the many other companies that have hopped on the bandwagon are Verizon, Chipotle, Comcast, Walgreens and News Corp, publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

Write to Celia Bernhardt at celia.bernhardt@wsj.com and Sarah Nassauer at Sarah.Nassauer@wsj.com

Retired laid off former employee here. Yesterday I received an email announcing changes to the 401k plan. In short, the plan is going to be more expensive for participants starting next month. Was there any internal communication about why the changes are happening?

Wow temple lost another foreman. One retired and one went to different department to escape the bull cr-p management madness.

For a new joiner, would y'all leave your 401k with the previous employer or rollover to Fiserv's?

Is there any truth to this rumor?

I gave nine years to Oracle, late nights, extra projects, constant praise. I honestly believed I'd be here until retirement. Then they cut me last month without warning. I know I'll find something else, but I'm terrified it won't be as good. The unfairness of it all is eating me alive.

48 years, 13 YEE, probability 10%

For those under 55 and leaving the company/severed, what do you do with your retirement money? Do you take the current commited value and convert to LIRA OR do you leave it there and take it as annuity in the future? Trying to understand your thought process and pros/cons.

Who's winning, who's losing?

Has anyone that applied for the VSP received a call from Fidelity to talk about their 401K

Hi,
I left Juniper last year before the transaction was closed and moved to different city. I provided HR with my new address but never received any information post mail or email regarding 401k liquidification. I logged into my fidelity account to find $0 balance. Fidelity wasn’t able to provide any information regarding this and gave me phone number to contact which bins to inspira financial. It’s been 2 weeks I have been contacting them but they also don’t have any of my account information.
Can someone help with who I can reach out in HPE to find out the status of my 401k. Thanks!

Besides the obvious MW and MN in the next 12-18 months, who are the others?

I am 52 and want to take VRP but not eligible for it. Anyone knows if HR would bridge 3 years and give me the package? It would be hard to stay 3 more years. I will lose more than 50% of my pension if I leave before 55.

You hit 40, they'll retire you.

CHK them Linkedin posts folks!

But because things are the way there are now, I feel like I have ten years ahead of me. I just want to be done with this place.

ACA (Obamacare) is most expensive. The Citi retirement plan is second and ironically COBRA is cheapest (at $2,100 per month for my wife and I).

I will turn 65 during the 18 month COBRA period. So, I thinking that is the best option (COBRA then Medicare for me). Then ACA for my wife until she turns 65 in 3 years.

I'm just wondering what others have done or what your thoughts are. Thanks

I’ve seen a few vesting-related posts, and I think mine is the most interesting one. My last day is set as May 31st, and if I work one more day, my 401(k) will be fully vested, based on the 190 hours per month rule, no kidding. it’s really frustrating to lose almost 40% of the contributions just because of one day. I’ve reached out to HR, but it seems like nobody is familiar with this situation. Do you have any suggestions on how I might be able to become fully vested?

I'm 50-something years old, 20-something years of Ford direct employment, falling under the GRP. Contributory to my pension since the first paycheck I could do so.

I'd go tomorrow if the rules let me retire early, but I'm not quite 55.

Any rumors of early retirement packages?

Jim

It’s time for another early retirement offer.

Xoxo

Baylor University has begun staff layoffs following a February announcement. The university plans to implement $35 million in budget cuts over two years. At least 40 employees have received pink slips, including eight in the College of Arts and Sciences. These reductions are part of a broader response to higher education challenges. The university also reduced its contribution to the faculty retirement plan.

Waco, TX

https://wacotrib.com/news/local/education/article_6f3f0085-bf69-402d-9fcd-7d7613f1ee50.html

After termination, how long does it usually take to receive communications about the pension and RRSP plans? I’ve been waiting for about 3 weeks now and wanted to follow up.

She is 64. Will she retire soon? Maybe things will get better then? 🤞

To age plus years of service equals magic number for full retirement. Employees will retire without an exit severance pkg.

I cannot find the original post but I remember seeing one of the posts saying 50% of Houston personnel will be retirement age in 10 years. What’s the source of that information? Is it true?

What will happen to earned but not commenced pensions if HW is split up and sold off?

Vanguard retirement packages for US tech employees. Wow... you guys really do not keep up.

Does anyone remember the timing for last year’s buyout offer? I finally hit the 'magic number' and hoping for a repeat of last year’s offer.

Anyone flip their 401k to IRA yet? What was your experience? Did you choose managed or self directed ?

Five former Dell Technologies employees have filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that poor oversight of its 401(k) retirement plan led to massive losses for workers. The complaint, filed on Jan. 28 in federal court in Austin, Texas, claims Dell failed to properly manage the plan and cost participants more than $318 million.

According to the proposed class action, Dell violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by continuing to offer investment funds that consistently underperformed, even as stronger and less expensive alternatives were available. The plaintiffs argue that this prolonged inaction put employees’ retirement savings at risk and eroded long term returns.

Just got mail from MetLife announcing "important updates to your MetLife 401(k) plan".

#1 New Target-Date funds. Balance fund going away. Ok fine.

#2 Access to Retirement Planning and Advice. Anybody have details on this? I couldn't find in the "literature" whether this was free (how much is free advice worth), or how much it costs. Sometimes the "advice" is really just a sales pitch, so sus. Seems unlikely that they could truly afford to offer "guidance tailored to your unique financial situation that evolves with you as your needs and goals change" unless it was 100% A.I.

Would like to hear from someone that knows.

Change the retirement % to age chart.
62 = 100%
61 = 90%
60 = 85%
59 = 80%
IF THE COMPANY WOULD CHANGE THIS EMPLOYEES COULD RETIRE SOONER.

If you have been recently laid off or left on your own, double check your vesting amount especially if you Rollover your account. I was fully vested as I had been with TD a long time past the vesting requirement before I left. I received an email in December telling me I needed to rollover my account or make an election by a certain time period or my account would be closed and I would basically receive a check for the balance. I rolled it, but then I was missing a large sum of money which was the match portion as if I wasn’t vested. I called Fidelity and they agreed I had been vested for awhile and they reached out to TD to refund me. I’m still waiting on my money and following up. I’m hoping I’m just a clerical error, but I just wanted to throw a heads up in case I’m not.

How is it legal for BK to take the distribution out of your account, yet not credit you the money for 30 days.
So basically BK is holding on to your money, earning interest ? Carrying it as an asset ? For 30 days.

https://www.change.org/p/reform-railroad-retirement-system

https://www.change.org/p/reform-railroad-retirement-system

Interest rates aren’t going to get any lower anytime soon. Early 2026 is a good time to retire

What the title says - I've managed to find a new job and will be leaving next month. Will I still receive my 2025 401k match?