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Mine contributes 3% regardless of what you contrbiute (even if nothing). I also contribute at least 10% of my salary.
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My company matches 4.5%, and I contributed 10%. They just lowered it to 4.5% from 6%...total bummer!
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Yep. My company matches up to 6%. I believe DH's work is the same.
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Our company offers it and they currently match 50% of our contributions up to a certain amount.
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Rule of thumb is you should always contribute to get the max match from your employer.
I contribute 8%. My employer gives a free 2% to anyone who participates and matches 50% of your contributions up to a total contribution from them of 6% (since 50% of 8% is 4% plus the 2% free is my 6% max). So I get 14% in my 401K essentially...it feels so good to watch it grow at that pace!
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i have a 403B and I contribute the max. I did it when I started my so I wouldn't feel the hit in my paycheck when I was "able" to contribute. That was I would be able to budget without sacrificing my retirement.
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I really encourage people to max out their company's 401k/pension plans. Rather than contributing to RRSPs outside of the company, i would rather get the full match first. It's FREE money from the company...you get it just for putting it towards your savings!
Our company matches up to 6%, which is pretty average.
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My company does annual 401k contributions based on discretion which I hate. You don't know what (if anything) you will get until the year is over. I haven't been there very long but it seems like we have to have a very good year to get anything.
I contribute as much as I can regardless.
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@Mrs. Jacks: WOW. I have never heard of such a thing! That is amazing, you are so very lucky.
@regberadaisy: I would pay off bills before starting to put money into retirement. To me, getting out of debt is first, then comes savings.
My company offers a 401k. They do not match. I put in 20%.
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@mediagirl: yea, that's what I was thinking bc rate of growth vs interest on credit card......
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I contributed 15% and my co matched up to 6%. It is pretax so it really does not make a huge impact on your bring home- I really never even noticed it. And then when I logged into my Fidelity account after a while, I couldn't believe how much it adds up!
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Heck yeah! I contribute the max and my company matches their max, which is 8% and 6% each paycheck I think
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@mediagirl: Don't forget that our salaries aren't top of the pay scale for our positions! (But I'm not complaining. I love my job and the compensation and benefits so so much!)
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I would contribute as much as you need to in order to get your full company match. It's free money!
When I was working I put away more than my company match which was a $0.50 match on the dollar up to 6%. This way you had to contribute 6% to get the 3% from the company.
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My company provides a 100% match up to 9% so that is what I put in. I don't do the max contribution because I am on a tax-exempt system so there is no tax benefit for me on increased contributions.
@Anagram: @mrsjazz: DH is a teacher in the NY public school system so he has a pension. He also has a 403b because in New York you are entitled to this. Within that there is an option for a tax-deferred annuity which offers a guaranteed 8% rate of return. So in addition to his pension contributions, we kick 6% into his 403b. We used to do 20% but we lowered it when we bought our apt to bounce back from the costs. Once we are done having kiddos with daycare costs, we will push it back up to the max.
If you guys aren't doing this you should really look into it because having a guaranteed 8% rate of return is nothing to sneeze at. You can max it out same as 401K in a year which is incredible to have on top of a pension.
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@plantains: Say what? Ok, I need to tell DH about this! I had no idea and I doubt he had any clue either. He doesn't really think about retirement. We were both checking out how much we had in our retirement accounts and his was so low it was laughable.
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My employer contributes 10% of my salary after I've been working at my job for more than 12 months -- I'm almost there! August 1st my retirement benefits kick in! Like @Mrs. Jacks, I don't have to contribute anything. DH contributes to his 401K as well... I think at 5% right now. He does not have an employer match anymore, although we're hopeful that it will return now that the economy is doing better.
We also separately contribute to Roth IRAs each year.
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@mrsjazz: My DH had no clue either. I stumbled on it by googled the TRS website and my eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. I was like whaaaa??????? So I made him sign up. It is awesome because the contributions also lower his tax bracket which is really handy around tax time. First financial perk of being a teacher that I hae noticed.
Here is a link to a brochure so you can show your DH.
https://www.trsnyc.org/WebContent/tools/brochure/tdaBook.pdf -
DH's job offers one and matches 6% so he contributes that as well.
Mine doesn't offer one, but is going to soon.
I plan to definitely take advantage of any company matching...it is FREE money!
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@plantains: You're awesome! Thanks! I am e-mailing him this right now.
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@regberadaisy: don't forget though that if there is a match you are increasing your money by 100% which is far more than the cost of interest.
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I work for the federal government, so our plan is similar to a 401(k)/403(b) but is administered a little differently. I get matched up to 5% and currently contribute 8% (I think -- I should double check that). We also have FERS, which is sort of like a pension -- mandatory contributions are taken from each paycheck and then you get a monthly benefit at retirement based on an average of a few years of your highest salary (currently 3 but they're trying to change it to 5) and your length of service. I'm trying to base retirement planning on just my own savings (and DH's) and not SS or FERS because I just don't feel comfortable counting on those being available when the time comes, do hopefully if they are it will be a nice bonus.
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@plantains: no match! On "temporary" hold so I'm going to hold off on contributing until all our bills are paid off.
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Only one of my offices offer a 401k that contributes 6%, that's what I contribute as well.
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My employer doesn't match but contributes a fixed portion of your salary automatically, whether you contribute or not.
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Yes, company matches 6%... I put in 10%
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My company is AWESOME! They automatically match up to 4% (I put in 9%) and then at the end of the year they put in a lump sum profit sharing amount. It varies from 8% in bad years to as much as 17% on top of the 4% match! I love my 401k!
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@regberadaisy: Sorry regberadaisy I can't seem to figure it out... does your new job do any matching for 401k?
If it does you should do the min at least to get the "free" money.
Most companies give about 2-5% matching. That's free money because even if you need to early withdrawl it's only 10%.
So say you put in 2% which is 1000 (50k/yr income) and the company matches that. So you have 2000 in your 401k, if you have to withdrawl early you will be taxed income tax rate + 10% which is going to be way less than 1000 that your company matced for you, so it's like getting hundreds of dollars for free. Even if you need it *right now*.
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@Raindrop: yeah I wasn't sure and today was the meeting. They've put matching contributions on "temporary" hold. So I'm def holding off on contributing. If they were I defl will contribute up to their matching.
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@regberadaisy: Oh okay! I think holding off is a great choice then. : ) But once they give back matching please please put in the min! ^_^
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@regberadaisy: temporary hold??? Ugh, fair enough then.
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@Raindrop: haha I always do! At my last job I was putting more than minimum in.
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