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Jun 03, 2023

23 Companies With the Best 401k Match Plans

Offering an employer 401(k) match plan is a popular way for companies to attract workers to join their ranks, as well as incentivize them to stay. A 401(k) match plan is a retirement savings program

Offering an employer 401(k) match plan is a popular way for companies to attract workers to join their ranks, as well as incentivize them to stay.

A 401(k) match plan is a retirement savings program offered by many employers as part of their overall compensation and benefits package. Companies can either match their employees’ 401(k) contributions dollar-for-dollar, or as a percentage of the amount contributed by the employee.

How much a company contributes to its employees’ 401(k)s varies. A 2023 Vanguard report found that the most common plan is a 50 percent match, on up to 6 percent of an employee’s pay. In that case, a company puts 50 cents into an employee’s 401(k) plan for every dollar the employee puts in for up to 6 percent of their gross annual salary — meaning an employee can sock away an amount equal to 9 percent of their salary each pay period. Companies also have different vesting schedules, which is the time period an employee must work in order for employer-matched funds to become fully theirs.

A good 401(k) match plan offers a generous employer contribution and a reasonable vesting schedule, encouraging employees to save for retirement effectively. Here are some companies with the best 401(k) match plans to help employees maximize their financial security.

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Activision Blizzard is among the largest video game makers in the world, responsible for well-known titles like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Overwatch. It also offers one of the highest 401(k) contributions today, matching employee contributions dollar-for-dollar on up to 25 percent of their salary. All employees are eligible for 401(k) matching starting their first day on the job, and are fully vested immediately.

Offering a variety of branded debit cards, credit cards and prepaid cards, Visa facilitates electronic fund transactions worldwide. Employees working at the company receive a 200 percent match on their contribution, up to five percent of their base salaries. So, if an employee puts 5 percent of their pay into their 401(k), Visa will add another 10 percent.

Uber is the largest rideshare company in the world, connecting people with freelance drivers in more than 10,000 cities globally. All of its full-time, U.S.-based employees receive full matches on their 401(k) plans, at up to 10 percent of their annual compensation. They are immediately eligible for this plan, and 100 percent vested.

Comcast is the second largest broadcasting and cable television company, providing internet, video and mobile services to millions of users around the world. The company offers a dollar-for-dollar employer 401(k) match up to 6 percent of their annual pay, with immediate eligibility and vesting.

International engineering giant Bosch is a big name in IoT innovation, offering solutions for smart homes, industrial automation and connected mobility. Its US-based employees receive a 75 percent company match on their 401(k)s for up to 9 percent of their compensation.

As one of the world’s largest producers of electronic devices, Samsung makes everything from semiconductors and memory chips to televisions and smart refrigerators. The company offers both full match and partial match contributions for its employees’ 401(k)s, where the first 3 percent of an employee’s salary is matched dollar-for-dollar and the next 3 percent is matched at 50 percent — making the maximum total employer match 4.5 percent each year. All regular, full-time and part-time Samsung employees are eligible for this benefit, so long as they have at least 30 scheduled hours of work under their belt.

Honeywell creates software and industrial IoT products for a variety of industries, including aerospace and travel, energy and logistics. The company offers a flexible 401(k) plan to its employees, partially matching their contributions for up to 7 percent of their base salary. Honeywell’s matching contributions are fully vested after three years of employment.

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Known for its laptops, watches, phones and tablets, Apple is a household name when it comes to consumer technology. The company offers both partial and full 401(k) matching options, depending on the length of employment. Within their first two years of work, employees can receive a 50 percent match, within five years they can receive a 75 percent match, and with more than five years they can receive a full dollar-for-dollar match up to 6 percent of their annual salary.

Biogen is a biotech company that develops treatments and medications for people living with neurological and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Employees working for Biogen receive a 200 percent match on their 401(k) contributions for up to 3 percent of their yearly pay.

Boasting about 35,000 stores worldwide, Starbucks is the largest coffee retailer today. And all Starbucks employees — from the baristas to the corporate executives — are eligible for its 401(k) match plan, so long as they’ve worked for the company for 90 days. The company matches employee contributions dollar-for-dollar, for up to 5 percent of their eligible pay.

Telecommunications giant AT&T offers employees an 80 percent match on their 401(k) contributions for up to 9 percent of their compensation. Once they have worked at the company for a year, employees are eligible to receive a 100 percent match.

Microsoft develops some of the most popular software products on the market, and also employs more than 200,000 people worldwide. It offers a unique 401(k) match plan to its U.S. employees where it does not set a cap on employer matched contributions; instead it offers 50 percent matches up to the IRS contribution limit for the year. When employees max out their annual contributions, the total amount received from employer matching is usually around $10,000.

BOK Financial is a financial services company that offers various wealth, commercial and consumer products and services, including employer sponsored retirement plans. BOK Financial also contributes to its own employees’ 401(k) plans, with match percentages ranging from 50 percent to 200 percent, depending on how long the person has been working at the company. Employees can also customize their plans to choose how the money is being invested.

Accenture is a tech consulting firm that provides services like data analytics and artificial intelligence to help companies optimize their operations. Its employees can receive dollar-to-dollar match contributions for up to 6 percent of their eligible compensation. And while the company has a longer vesting period of two years, Accenture employees are immediately eligible to start receiving employer matches to their 401(k).

As a leader in e-commerce, robotics, grocery delivery and IoT devices, Amazon has about a million people working for it on both a full-time and part-time basis in the United States. For every $1 one of these employees contributes to their 401(k), Amazon puts in another 50 cents, maxing at 4 percent of their eligible pay. All Amazon employees aged 18 and older are eligible to join this plan immediately upon their date of hire, and the vesting period lasts after three years or 3,000 hours of work, whichever comes first.

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Cisco provides IT products and services across several different tech sectors, and is perhaps best known for its networking products. Its employees can contribute up to the IRS limits, and Cisco matches their contributions dollar-for-dollar, up to 4.5 percent of their eligible pay.

Boeing is an aerospace company that designs, manufactures and sells everything from planes and satellites to rockets and missiles. Even if employees don’t put any of their paycheck aside for their 401(k), Boeing will still contribute 3 to 5 percent automatically. If employees do make contributions, the company also matches those dollar-for-dollar on up to 10 percent of their eligible pay. Employees are immediately eligible and 100 percent vested.

One of the world’s leading tech titans, Google has amassed a vast network of both full-time and part-time employees around the world. Eligible U.S. employees can either receive 100 percent matches of up to $3,000, or 50 percent matches of up to the IRS contribution, whichever is higher. If an employee wants to maximize their 401(k) contribution, they can receive a larger employer match. And their contributions are fully vested right away.

3M manufactures and sells a broad range of products, from building materials and adhesives to medical device components and home cleaning supplies. The company offers all of its employees a non-elective base contribution of 3 percent of their salary, meaning employees don’t even have to make contributions of their own to receive it. 3M also offers an additional dollar-for-dollar contribution match of up to 5 percent of an employee’s compensation.

Charles Schwab provides a range of securities, brokerage, banking money management and financial advisory services. Many businesses actually use Charles Schwab for its 401(k) management services too. Incidentally, the company offers a fairly generous 401(k) contribution to its own employees, including a 100 percent match up to 5 percent of their salaries, plus an initial $250 for the first dollar contributed by the employee.

Employees working at Netflix, the media company and streaming behemoth, receive dollar-for-dollar 401(k) matching for up to 4 percent of their annual compensation, with no vesting period and immediate eligibility.

Adobe offers digital marketing and creative media tools, and its Photoshop and Premiere products are industry standards among photographers, filmmakers and designers. Adobe offers 50 percent matches to its employees’ 401(k) for up to 6 percent of their compensation. But to qualify, employees have to have worked at the company for at least 15 months, and the vesting period is two years.

Meta is the tech company behind social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Threads, as well as cutting edge technology in the augmented reality and virtual reality spaces. The company provides full employer matching up to 50 percent of the IRS federal elective deferral limit for the year, which was $22,500 in 2023. All employees are eligible for employer matching immediately, and are 100 percent vested.

The most common 401(k) match plan is a 50 percent employer match, on up to 6 percent of an employee’s annual pay, according to a 2023 Vanguard report.

Yes, an employer can offer a 100 percent match to an employee contribution, up to a certain percentage of their annual income.