401(k) Plan Options

There are many ways that we can make your 401(k) work better for both you and your employees. Do you need to pass compliance testing? Want to increase your tax-deferred savings? Improve your employees' retirement readiness? Thinking about starting a 401(k) plan for your business? Learn More

Schedule your call with a 401k specialist

A 401(k) plan is the most flexible and well-known company sponsored retirement plan, but retirement plans can be customized to meet your company's and employees' needs. Not all plans are the same. Take a look at some of the options you have:

Employer Match

Encourage your employees to defer more money by offering a match. Consider using a vesting schedule to encourage employee retention.
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401k Auto Enrollment — Auto Enrollment

Auto enrollment has been shown to increase participation rates among staff and better prepare your employees for retirement.
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401k Safe harbor — Safe Harbor

Pass most compliance testing with this option.
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401k Profit Sharing — Profit Sharing

Every year, based on your business's success, you can give your employees a retirement bonus through a Profit Sharing Plan.
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401k Business Cash Balance Plan — Cash Balance

Reduce personal taxable income and accelerate savings. Cash Balance is designed for high-net-worth owners of small businesses with steady revenue.
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Business 401k roth plan — Roth 401(k)

A Roth 401(k) option allows you and your employees to contribute post-tax earnings toward retirement.
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Compare Your Plan Options

Offering a retirement plan is a great way to attract and retain talented employees, help employees build their retirement savings and take advantage of tax breaks.
Here’s how we make the conversion process easier with the very first step—reviewing your plan options.

Employer Match

Auto Enrollment

Safe Harbor

Profit Sharing

Cash Balance

Roth

Why You Want It

When your employees defer a percentage of their income, the company can match it and create parameters to match the deferral amount.

Auto enroll employees into the 401(k) plan as soon as they qualify.

A provision added to your 401(k) plan that gives you a pass on most compliance testing.

Most flexible way for employers to defer retirement dollars to their employees.

Can help business owners realize tax deductions and savings rates up to 4x more than with a stand-alone 401(k) plan.*

Roth accounts are attractive to younger employees and high-earning employees.

Considerations

You can set the matching amount at a %, (i.e. match the first 3%). And you can set a vesting schedule — meaning that the 3% match vests after several years of employment.

Set a base deferral rate for employees upon enrollment (3% for example) with an option to opt out whenever they choose.

Requires an annual employer contribution that is immediately 100% vested.

As defined in the plan document, this can be a discretionary contribution each year distributed to your eligible employees. There are several ways to allocate those dollars.

Reduce personal taxable income and accelerate savings. All assets in the cash balance plan are pooled and come from the employer.

A Roth costs very little, if anything, to add on to your existing 401(k) plan.

When Is It Right?

Increases employee engagement levels. Employees appreciate when companies invest in their retirement.

Improves employee retirement readiness. If your employees are unlikely to enroll on their own they could lose out on valuable compound growth opportunities.

With Safe Harbor, the company 401(k) plan will have reduced testing requirements, and employees benefit too with an annual 401(k) contribution from their employer.

Not only are you sharing your business success with your employees, but you control how much is contributed each year—less in lean years and more in good years.

Adding a Cash Balance Plan reduces the business owner's taxable income and increases the owner's savings rate, and benefits employees too with an employer contribution into their 401(k).

Add a Roth option to your 401(k) plan anytime to give your employees different tax strategies in retirement.

^*Based on 2018 contribution limits and assumes a 37% tax; varies by state. Taxes are deferred.

How to Build the Best 401(k) Plan for Your Industry

Compare 401(k) programs across industries to see if you’re getting what you need

The features of a successful 401(k) plan can vary widely, and what works for one business may not be the right fit for another. To help you find out what is common for organizations in different industries, we've gathered helpful data insights. Fisher Investments customizes services to address each industry's needs to drive 401(k) success.

Dive into the data:

MANUFACTURING

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

CONSTRUCTION

HEALTHCARE

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Manufacturing

Make It Simpler for Employees Enroll and Save

Average Percentage of Pay Saved

Manufacturing 9.6% 9.6%

Industry Average 9.2% 9.2%

Second Highest Rate of Participants Taking Full Advantage of Match

Healthcare 74% 74%

Manufacturing 67% 67%

Professional Services 55% 55%

Construction 53% 53%

Manufacturing Other industries

Industry Insights

Manufacturing employees have above-average savings rates and the second-highest percentage of participants taking advantage of a company match. Manufacturing firms typically have a very diverse employee base and can benefit from enrollment
and annual 401(k) presentations that are in-language and culturally relevant. Fisher Investments helps manufacturing companies by offering off-site meetings and
one-on-one consultations.

Professional Services

Attract Talent with a Feature-Rich 401(k) Plan

Plans that offer Safe Harbor

63.3% 63.3%

62.0% 62.0%

Professional services Other industries

Industry Insights

For professionals like lawyers, accountants, architects, and marketers, a 401(k) plan is a necessary recruitment and retention tool. There are many ways to make your company’s 401(k) plan stand out, from more personalized employee services to specific plan design options. One option that professional services use more than average is Safe Harbor, a type of plan that allows high earners to invest more while allowing your company to be free of many types of compliance testing requirements. At Fisher, we help businesses attract talent with a feature-rich 401(k) plan with
one-on-one employee guidance that can really set you apart from your competitors.

CONSTRUCTION

Boost 401(k) Enrollment

Average Participation Rate

70%

Enrolled Not enrolled

Industry Insights

Recruitment and retention tools like 401(k) plans are a must in an industry where 80% of firms say it’s hard to fill positions.1 Plan participation among construction employees does lag slightly behind the average for all industries, but one reason is that it can be difficult for off-site employees to join 401(k) plan meetings in headquarters or find time to join a webinar. That’s why Fisher Investments will travel to worksites for in-person, one-on-one meetings to help employees get the knowledge they need to create saving and investment strategies and enroll in their company’s plan.

HEALTHCARE

Help All Employees Maximize Savings

Average Plan Participation Rate

Healthcare 86% 86%

Other industries 75% 75%

Average Percentage of Pay Saved

Healthcare 10.1% 10.1%

Other industries 9.2% 9.2%

Healthcare Other industries

Industry Insights

Healthcare employees are savers, with higher participation and savings rates on average. However, there can be wide differences in salaries, which can impact the benefits that employees need from their 401(k) plans. At Fisher Investments, we offer customized solutions to help all levels of earners. We help them focus on long-term goals, investment style, and retirement time horizon, rather than just desired risk level, to help them set up their ideal investment strategy.

Get the most out of your 401(k) plan.

For companies in every industry, Fisher Investments can provide services tailored to the needs of you and your employees.

To discuss your company’s 401(k) plan, call us at (844) 237-9243 or have us call you.

see the source

The data in this infographic is sourced internally from Fisher Investments. View the data here.

¹ Associated General Contractors of America, "Eighty Percent of Contractors Report Difficulty Finding Qualified Craft Workers to Hire as Association Calls for Measure to Rebuild Workforce," August 29, 2018

401(k) Plan Options

There are many ways that we can make your 401(k) work better for both you and your employees. Do you need to pass compliance testing? Want to increase your tax-deferred savings? Improve your employees' retirement readiness? Thinking about starting a 401(k) plan for your business? Learn More

Schedule your call with a 401k specialist