What is Safe Harbor?
Safe harbor is a type of employer contribution that can be added to a 401(k) plan to help the plan pass compliance testing. A 401(k) safe harbor can boost participation in your retirement plan enabling owners and top employees to contribute more money to their own retirement account.
How Safe Harbor Works
Safe harbor is a type of employer contribution that is added to a 401(k) plan to help business owners and top employees save more for retirement while helping the plan pass compliance testing. There are three types of contributions an employer can choose from: non-elective, basic match, enhanced match.
Why Safe Harbor is Important
Adding a safe harbor provision to your 401(k) plan allows the plan to pass compliance testing. This means highly compensated employees can maximize their annual personal contributions. And if you choose a safe harbor match, youโre incentivizing enrolled employees to increase their retirement savings themselves.
How Fisher Can Help
Fisher is one of America's top advisory firms with deep experience helping business owners navigate the ins and outs of evaluating and setting up a safe harbor strategy tailored to meet their specific objectives.
MUST-SEE 2-MINUTE VIDEO
Safe Harbor Video
Watch this short video to learn how successful business owners can leverage a safe harbor 401(k) to increase retirement savings for themselves and highly compensated employees, maximize tax advantages, and pass annual compliance testing. Plus, it can help employees save more for their own retirement.
SAFE HARBOR GUIDE
Find out what business owners need to know about adding a safe harbor to their 401(k) plan:
- Learn how a safe harbor 401(k) works
- Consider when a safe harbor makes sense
- Review safe harbor scenarios
There are 3 Options for Safe Harbor Contributions
Non-Elective Safe Harbor
Eligible employees get an annual employer contribution of 3% of their salary. This amount is immediately fully vested and the employee gets it whether or not they contribute to the plan.
Basic Safe Harbor Match
The employer matches 100% of the first 3% of each employee's contribution and 50% of the next 2%. Employees are required to contribute to their 401(k) in order to get the match.
Enhanced Safe Harbor Match
The employer matches 100% of the first 4% of each employee's contribution. Like a Basic Safe Harbor Match, employees are required to defer money to their 401(k) in order to qualify for the match.
Solutions for Top Heavy 401(k) Plans
Top earners tilting your 401(k)? Learn how to rebalance without asking highly compensated employees and owners to sacrifice.
Superior Plan & Investment Guidance
Fisher provides flexible investment solutions, superior fund lineup management, and ongoing investment guidance to maximize wealth creation.
Simplified Plan Administration
We streamline retirement plan administration and payroll processes and provide a dedicated-point-of-contact for all plan servicing, troubleshooting and vendor management.
Unparalleled Service
We offer services other providers canโt or wonโt provide. With Fisher youโll receive tailored participant education programs along with one-on-one meetings to increase employee participation and improve retirement readiness.
Legal Protection
As an ERISA 3(38) Investment Manager, Fisher takes full legal responsibility for selecting, monitoring, and updating the funds in your plan. This protects you and other plan sponsors from investment-related legal risk.
Contact Us
One of our 401(k) business specialists would love to talk to you about your companyโs retirement plan needs.
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