Comments on: My 401k Is Better Than Yours

By: Punchy

Punchy — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 01:21:04 +0000

I get a 100% match on 2.5% but I have to contribute 5% of my paycheck to get the full match. No profit sharing, no bonuses, and no stocks (it is a private company). Oh and there’s a 5 year vesting period. Doesn’t sound like a company that has gross revenues approaching 500 million / year, does it?

By: debttodreams

debttodreams — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 04:13:52 +0000

as a medical Resident we have no match and I was not even eligible for a retirement plan through our hospital. I had to contribute to an IRA.

By: Micah

Micah — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 15:35:21 +0000

In the military, we have no match in the TSP (a 401k) while our civil service counterparts do. Of course, we have free healthcare and from what I hear, a decent pension to boot!

By: allen

allen — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:18:41 +0000

No match, 10% profit sharing, vesting after 5 years. I’m pretty sure your buddy at DCF is one of my colleagues.

By: Foobarista

Foobarista — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 00:21:55 +0000

I work at a tech startup, and while I have a 401K that I max out for tax purposes, there is no match at all. Fortunately, our CEO was relatively careful picking the plan so we have a decent set of index funds to invest in. Previous startups I’ve worked at typically have a bunch of overpriced garbage funds.

In those case, I parked my cash in the MM fund and waited until I lobbied for new funds (worked once) or until I went elsewhere.

The main benefit is the options and restricted stock I get as an early-stage employee.

By: eROCK

eROCK — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 18:34:48 +0000

I work for a Fortune 100 in the Northeast and we get a 5% match on a 6% contribution. Except that the match can’t be more then $1,200 … hows that for a buzz kill?

I’m looking into another job that provides no match, but grants restricted stock offerings and also a bonus. I guess if I role the bonus into a Roth IRA, that’s my match Yea, Yea, it’s post-tax, but what can you do!?

By: jim

jim — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 03:10:32 +0000

Oh really? I remember something but not the exact topic… and here I thought this sort of thing was all my idea.

By: MossySF

MossySF — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 02:36:38 +0000

I work in a small company so we use the safe harbor option to avoid end-of-year plan testing. Hence, it’s the basic 100% match on the first 3% and 50% on the next 2%. Total of 4% matching if you contribute 5% of your salary. Choice of funds are ok — good choices in large cap and bonds, decent in small cap, crappy choices in international and reit.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 01:57:48 +0000

100% match on the first 5% contribution. New employees get immediate vesting, but I have to wait until my 3 year anniversary (at the end of this month, thank God) to get it. Plus the choice of funds to invest in is pretty lousy.

I’ll be glad to get out of this place. Three years is too long for anyone in my field to stay at one employer unless they hold significant stock options (”signigicant”==”worth more than two years’ salary”) or are part of the executive team. Plus, since they made me switch to the 2000-0400 shift (away from my preferred 2300-0700) I haven’t talked to any of my friends or professional contacts…the network it took me 15 years to build has been all but destroyed in six months.

Funny, I have this memory of promising our host that I’d write a guest post about this subject.

By: Miller

Miller — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:23:05 +0000

That’s crazy! I work for a LDC and I get (a lousy) 3% match on my “savings plan” (dunno why they don’t say 401K). Also crazy, I dragged a friend named Jim into a humorously competitve 401K conversation at a bar last Saturday night!

In all seriousness, I need to figure out how said LDC’s pension works… they don’t like to make this stuff simple, do they?

Of the above three, given just the information you presented, I’d take the DCF. Money is money, baby!

By: Martha

Martha — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 23:42:13 +0000

Well folks, working for a newly IPO’d company means that I have no employer match on my 401K. Fun stuff!

By: broknowrchlatr

broknowrchlatr — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 21:46:57 +0000

Mine is pretty standard and boring. Full match up to 4% then nothing after that.

Pension is also included. It will roughly come out to 45% of my total compensation at retirement.

Both are immediatly 100% vested. So, even if I leave the company after a few years, I can qualify for a couple thousand bucks a year at retirement.

By: KMC

KMC — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 19:38:08 +0000

My company’s plan is pretty good I think. 100% match on first 8% and a variable 2-3% at the end of the year (they decide the amount). I think the vesting is a cliff at 3 years. I’m not sure since I’ve been here a while. And like Mapgirl, they have a true-up.

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:50:47 +0000

Heh heh. This will be fun since I work private sector, totally not government related, but in the same metropolitan area, so the same job market.

We get 50% employer match for the first 5% of salary contributed, so it is maxed at 2.5% of your income. That’s not great unless you negotiate yourself a good salary at the outset. (Which everyone is, RIGHT?)

Vesting schedule is 1 year = 20%, 2 years = 60% 3+ years = 100%.

We also get a True-up contribution if contributions were front-loaded, but they are lagged by 3 months. But that’s better than losing the match on the last few paychecks of the year because of front-loading.

By: dong

dong — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:26:37 +0000

I’m at a large energy company and pretty pleased with the 401k the company offers
6% match on my contributions
3% fixed profit sharing
0-7% variable profit sharing

On average because I contribute the full 15%, I usually end up getting almost another full 15% just from the company. No complaints other than the 5 year cliff vesting, but since I’m past that i can’t complain about that either….