My company offers a 401(k) plan to all employees who work at least 20 hours a week. We don't currently have a match; instead, we have a bonus plan so that all employees benefit. I'm considering instituting a match and would love to know how others have structure the match. What percent do you match? Do you have a vesting schedule? Do you think that your match and vesting schedule have contributed to employee loyalty and longevity?

we do not match and I think it is part of our corporate philosophy. if we match, it becomes an expectation and an equal "bonus" to all. we want to inspire performance, and we bonus based on performance. The bonuses can assign it to the 401k plan if the employee chooses, so they still get the tax benefit without the entitlement.

I am a third party administrator of 401(k) plans, so we see all kinds of matches. The two most common are 50% up to 6% (for a total potential matching contribution of 3% of wages), and the Safe Harbor matching formula, which is 100% up to 3% + 50% from 4 to 5% (for a total potential matching contribution of 4% of wages).

We were on a 401K but unless you have a full-time HR person it can be a nightmare to administer and that includes the government paperwork. We switched to a Simple IRA Plan. It is much simpler. We match the employees contribution up to 3% of their salary.