Safe Harbor 401(K) Plan

A Safe-Harbor 401(k) plan offers a minimum level of contributions to all employees, freeing owners and highly paid employees to contribute as much as possible to their own 401(k) plans.

A safe harbor 401k plan is ideal for a young business owner looking to start small and put aside some money for retirement.

How does cash balance pension plan work

What Is a Safe Harbor 401k Plan?

A plan is a 401k Safe Harbor plan if you agree to make some minimal contributions to your employees in a pension plan. A traditional 401k plan allows you to contribute up to $20,500 and another $7,000 if you are older than 50. These limits are for 2022 and are adjusted each year. If you have employees, the IRS mandates you to provide a 401k plan to your employees so that they can start saving for retirement. In order to ensure that retirement plans are not too skewed in favor of highly compensated employees, the IRS requires certain compliance testing to be done. These tests can be complicated and can create significant overhead for you as a business owner. What is worse is that if none of your employees contribute to their 401k’s, you can’t either! This sticky situation can be avoided by implementing a 401k safe harbor plan. In this way, you can avoid most of the IRS test requirements and can contribute to the plan regardless of what your employees do.

There are two types of safe harbor plans.

Safe Harbor Non-elective plan

In a Safe Harbor Non-Elective plan, you are required to make a contribution equivalent to 3% of W-2 compensation to all eligible employees.

Safe Harbor Matching Plan

Within a Safe Harbor Matching plan you are required to make a contribution only to employees who contribute to the 401k plan. The amount of the contribution will be equal to their 401k contribution up to a maximum of 4% of their W-2 compensation.

So, what plan do you want to choose?

The cost of funding the retirement plan will vary significantly depending on which plan you choose. If you estimate that only a few employees will participate in the pension plan, then a safe harbor matching plan might prove to be a better option. Anecdotal evidence suggests that employees earning less than $30-40k annually do not contribute to a 401k plan. If you have employees with compensations in that range, a safe harbor matching design will reduce your pension funding costs.

However, if you expect all employees to contribute some amounts to the 401k plan, then the safe harbor non-elective design will prove beneficial.

 This is only a basic overview of the safe harbor 401k plans and enhancements can be explored that increase allocations to the business owners. Please feel free to get in touch with our office and we shall be happy to provide a free consultation and customized plan design for you.  .

Benefits of Safe Harbor 401(K) Plan

Safe Harbor plans can be a better option for employers looking for ways to bypass some compliance tests. In exchange for the “safe harbor” status, employers are obliged to pay employers’ contributions.
A Safe Harbor Plan will automatically be considered to meet some of the essential compliance tests.
Employer contributions made through Safe Harbor are tax-deductible, reducing the employer’s taxable income.
As 401(k) can bypass certain compliance tests, all plan participants can maximize their contributions to the IRS limits.
The required mandatory employer contributions mean the 401(k) plan will be an attractive benefit to employees, which can help attract and retain employees and encourage them healthy plan participation.
Please feel free to get in touch with our 401(k) specialists, who provide consultation and customized plans for you. Schedule a free consultation now.