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Regular Deferral - Employee contributions are withheld from their paychecks pre-tax. They pay taxes on their accounts only when they take distributions.
Employee contributions are withheld from their paychecks post-tax. Employees are not taxed on distributions they take from their accounts.
You have the option to match your employees' contributions to their Sure401k plan. Matching works in one of two ways:
| Sample Tiered Matching Contribution | ||
| Employee Contribution | 4% | |
| Employer Contribution Tier 1 | 100% of 2% | |
| Employer Contribution Tier 2 | 50% of 2% | |
With either Matching Contribution option, the contribution must be calculated each pay period, but you won't have to fund the plan until the last day of the following year. For example, 2007 matching contributions must be funded by December 31, 2008.
The Profit Sharing Option allows you to contribute to an employee's plan even if they are not actively contributing.
Because these are complex calculations, Sure401k will prepare estimated calculations for each type of schedule upon your request.
The Safe Harbor Option is excellent for companies who would otherwise have trouble passing non-discrimination testing, because they have very highly compensated employees (HCE) and non-highly compensated employees (NHCE).
Without a Safe Harbor, HCEs run the risk of having taxable income returned to them at the end of the year, even if they have already filed their tax returns. Safe Harbor contributions satisfy discrimination testing, as long as the following rules are followed:
| Option 1 | Option 2 |
| 100% matching contribution of between 4% - 6% of employee's deferred compensation | Tiered matching contribution of 100% on the 1st 3% of the employee's deferred compensation, and 50% on the next 3% - 5% of the employee's deferred compensation |
Safe Harbor Non-Elective: A contribution of 3% of each eligible employee's compensation, regardless of whether the employee contributes.
All Safe Harbor contributions are immediately 100% vested.
Are you an owner-only business? If you and/or your spouse are the only employees in your business, you may have thought a 401(k) plan was out of reach. Not so with Sure401k's Solo(k) Plan.
You'll enjoy all the same advantages of a traditional 401(k) plan, including pre-tax contributions, a wide range of investment options and higher annual contribution limits than with a SIMPLE IRA plan. Through Sure401k, a Solo(k) plan is a surprisingly affordable way to begin saving for your retirement.
Vesting schedules, the process by which an employee earns the right to keep employer contributions in their accounts, apply only to employer Profit Sharing and non-Safe Harbor match contributions. Employees are always immediately 100% vested in Traditional 401(k), Roth 401(k) Deferrals and Safe Harbor contributions.
As an employer, you may choose to apply one of the following vesting schedules during plan establishment:
| 0 Years | 1 Year | 2 Years | 3 Years | 4 Years | 5 Years | 6 Years | |
| Immediate | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 33% /yr. | 0% | 33% | 66% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 25%/yr. | 0% | 25% | 50% | 75% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| 20%/yr. | 0% | 20% | 40% | 60% | 80% | 100% | 100% |
| "2/20" | 0% | 0% | 20% | 40% | 60% | 80% | 100% |
| 3-Yr. Cliff | 0% | 0% | 0% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |