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Hub AI
401(k) AI simulator
(@401(k)_simulator)
Hub AI
401(k) AI simulator
(@401(k)_simulator)
401(k)
In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodic employee contributions come directly out of their paychecks, and may be matched by the employer. This pre-tax option is what makes 401(k) plans attractive to employees, and many employers offer this option to their (full-time) workers. 401(k) payable is a general ledger account that contains the amount of 401(k) plan pension payments that an employer has an obligation to remit to a pension plan administrator. This account is classified as a payroll liability, since the amount owed should be paid within one year.
There are two types: traditional and Roth 401(k). For Roth accounts, contributions and withdrawals have no impact on income tax. For traditional accounts, contributions may be deducted from taxable income and withdrawals are added to taxable income. There are limits to contributions, rules governing withdrawals and possible penalties.
The benefit (vs. a normally taxed account) of the Roth account is from permanently tax-free profits that would normally be taxed in a normal account. The net benefit of the traditional account is the sum of (1) the same benefit as from the Roth account from the permanently tax-free profits on after-tax saving, (2) a possible bonus (or penalty) from withdrawals at tax rates lower (or higher) than at contribution, and (3) the impact on qualification for other income-tested programs from contributions and withdrawals reducing and adding to taxable income.
As of 2019, 401(k) plans had US$6.4 trillion in assets.
Before 1974, some U.S. employers had been giving their staff the option of receiving cash in lieu of an employer-paid contribution to their tax-qualified retirement plan accounts. The U.S. Congress banned new plans of this type in 1974, pending further study. After that study was completed, Congress reauthorized such plans, provided they satisfied certain special requirements. Congress did this by enacting Internal Revenue Code Section 401(k) as part of the Revenue Act. This occurred on 6 November 1978.
The first implementation of the 401(k) plan was in 1978, about three weeks after Section 401(k) was enacted, before the Revenue Act of 1978 even went into effect. Ethan Lipsig, of the outside law firm for Hughes Aircraft Company, sent a letter to Hughes Aircraft outlining how it could convert its after-tax savings plan into a 401(k) plan.
Ted Benna was among the first to establish a 401(k) plan, creating it at his own employer, the Johnson Companies (today doing business as Johnson Kendall & Johnson). Benna was trying to reduce the taxes due on an deferred-compensation bonus plan for bank executives, at a time when the top marginal income tax rate was 70%. Employees could contribute 25% of their salaries, up to $30,000 per year, to their employer's 401(k) plan.
There are two main types corresponding to the same distinction in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA); variously referred to as traditional vs. Roth, or tax-deferred vs. tax exempt, or EET vs. TEE.
401(k)
In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodic employee contributions come directly out of their paychecks, and may be matched by the employer. This pre-tax option is what makes 401(k) plans attractive to employees, and many employers offer this option to their (full-time) workers. 401(k) payable is a general ledger account that contains the amount of 401(k) plan pension payments that an employer has an obligation to remit to a pension plan administrator. This account is classified as a payroll liability, since the amount owed should be paid within one year.
There are two types: traditional and Roth 401(k). For Roth accounts, contributions and withdrawals have no impact on income tax. For traditional accounts, contributions may be deducted from taxable income and withdrawals are added to taxable income. There are limits to contributions, rules governing withdrawals and possible penalties.
The benefit (vs. a normally taxed account) of the Roth account is from permanently tax-free profits that would normally be taxed in a normal account. The net benefit of the traditional account is the sum of (1) the same benefit as from the Roth account from the permanently tax-free profits on after-tax saving, (2) a possible bonus (or penalty) from withdrawals at tax rates lower (or higher) than at contribution, and (3) the impact on qualification for other income-tested programs from contributions and withdrawals reducing and adding to taxable income.
As of 2019, 401(k) plans had US$6.4 trillion in assets.
Before 1974, some U.S. employers had been giving their staff the option of receiving cash in lieu of an employer-paid contribution to their tax-qualified retirement plan accounts. The U.S. Congress banned new plans of this type in 1974, pending further study. After that study was completed, Congress reauthorized such plans, provided they satisfied certain special requirements. Congress did this by enacting Internal Revenue Code Section 401(k) as part of the Revenue Act. This occurred on 6 November 1978.
The first implementation of the 401(k) plan was in 1978, about three weeks after Section 401(k) was enacted, before the Revenue Act of 1978 even went into effect. Ethan Lipsig, of the outside law firm for Hughes Aircraft Company, sent a letter to Hughes Aircraft outlining how it could convert its after-tax savings plan into a 401(k) plan.
Ted Benna was among the first to establish a 401(k) plan, creating it at his own employer, the Johnson Companies (today doing business as Johnson Kendall & Johnson). Benna was trying to reduce the taxes due on an deferred-compensation bonus plan for bank executives, at a time when the top marginal income tax rate was 70%. Employees could contribute 25% of their salaries, up to $30,000 per year, to their employer's 401(k) plan.
There are two main types corresponding to the same distinction in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA); variously referred to as traditional vs. Roth, or tax-deferred vs. tax exempt, or EET vs. TEE.