401(k) True-Up Explained: How to Avoid Missing Employer Match Money
If you contribute to a 401(k), you probably expect to get a match from your employer. However, if your company doesn’t offer what’s known as a 401(k) true-up contribution, you could be losing thousands of dollars of free money without realizing it.
A 401(k) true-up is an additional employer contribution that ensures you get the full company match, even if you max out your 401(k) early in the year.
Without it, employees who front-load contributions can miss out on employer match money and it’s a costly mistake that happens far more often than you’d think.
This article will address how 401(k) true-ups work, why they matter, and how to check if your employer offers one — so you can avoid leaving free money on the table.
What We’ll Cover:
What a 401(k) true-up is
The math behind why a 401(k) true-up is necessary
Comparison of a 401(k) true-up vs. 401(k) catch-up Contributions
How to check if your employer offers a true-up
How to find out if you’ve already missed employer match money
Steps to advocate for a true-up Provision in your 401(k) plan
What is a 401(k) True-Up?
A 401(k) true-up is an extra employer contribution designed to make up for lost match money if you maxed out your contributions early in the year.
Without a true-up, even if you contribute the full 401(k) limit, you could still miss out on part of your employer match simply because you didn’t spread contributions out throughout the year.
Math Behind Why a 401(k) True-Up is Necessary
It might seem impossible that maxing out your 401(k) early could cause you to lose employer match money — but that’s exactly what happens.
The math can get a little tricky, so we’ll go through it together.
Most employers match 401(k) contributions per paycheck, not as a lump sum at the end of the year.
Let’s say your company offers a dollar-for-dollar 4% match on your salary. This means they’ll look at each paycheck, match exactly 4% of what you contribute, and that’s it.
So if you decide to contribute 5% or 6% per paycheck, that extra percentage won’t be matched, even if you haven’t yet hit the annual IRS limit for 401(k) contributions.
Here’s an example of how you can miss out on employer match money:
Salary: $250,000
Employer Match: 4% (dollar-for-dollar)
Your Contribution: 15% of salary
If you were to contribute according to the numbers above, every month you’d contribute $3,125 into your 401(k) and your employer would provide a match of $833.33.
By the end of August, you would have maxed out your 401(k) and the $833.33 match would stop for the rest of the year. Below is a chart to illustrate what this would look like.
Because the employer match happens per paycheck, if you max out your 401(k) contributions early in the year, your employer stops contributing — even though you would otherwise be eligible for the full match if you spread contributions across all 12 months.
Now let’s see what it would look like if you were to contribute 9.40% of your salary into your 401(k) (rather than the 15% contribution we just illustrated above):
As you can see, by spreading out your contributions, you would receive $3,333.33 more in employer match money. That’s free money that you could have lost otherwise!
Most Companies Won’t Warn You Clearly Enough
Most employers don’t warn 401(k) participants enough about the risk of missing employer match money.
(I wonder why…)
Apple, for example, does not have a true-up. They have their 401(k) plan through Fidelity and in their plan document it states, “If you meet the annual 401(k) contribution limit early in the year by contributing more than 6 percent per pay period, you may not receive the maximum Apple Match.”
Apple does at least offer a “Contribution Maximizer” to help you make sure you don’t miss match money; other companies do not.
Regardless of the company you work for, you’ll want to do a bit of research before you go all in on your company’s 401(k) plan. (We know how excited you are to max out your retirement savings!)
401(k) True-Up vs. 401(k) Catch-Up Contributions
At first glance, 401(k) true-up contributions and 401(k) catch-up contributions might sound similar but they serve completely different purposes.
A 401(k) true-up is an employer contribution that ensures that you receive the full match you’re eligible for, even if you maxed your 401(k) early in the year.
A 401(k) catch-up contribution, on the other hand, is an extra contribution that employees aged 50 or older can make beyond the standard IRS 401(k) contribution limit.
Here’s a comparison:
So while your knees might hurt, at least you can contribute a little more to your 401(k)!
How to Check if Your Employer Offers a True-Up
You’re now aware that not all companies provide a 401(k) true-up contribution, so it’s up to you to do some digging. Here are some steps to help you figure it out:
Step 1: Review Your 401(k) Summary Plan Description (SPD)
Your employer is legally required to provide a Summary Plan Description (SPD), which outlines all the technical terms, rules, and settings of your company’s 401(k) plan.
It will list the fees that you will pay as a participant. It will list whether or not you have the ability to do a mega backdoor Roth and, as it pertains to this article, it should also provide details about whether or not a true-up provision is present.
You can typically find your 401(k) Summary Plan Description in the following places:
In your 401(k) provider’s portal (Fidelity, Vanguard, Empower, etc.)
In your HR or benefits portal
By requesting it from HR
Once you find it, you’ll want to search for terms like “True-Up Contribution,” “Annual Reconciliation,” and “Matching Adjustment.”
If you see language stating that your employer will true-up your match at year-end, that’s usually indicative that your company offers a true-up provision.
Step 2: Call Your 401(k) Provider or HR
If the Summary Plan Description isn’t clear (or you can’t find it), reach out directly to:
Your 401(k) provider – Call the customer service number listed in your plan portal. I recently asked a client to rate how hard it was to call Vanguard and she said it took 5 minutes.
HR or Benefits Department – Send an email or ask:
“Does our 401(k) plan include a true-up contribution to ensure I receive the full employer match, even if I max my 401(k) early in the year?”
I’d say most HR teams won’t know offhand, so we’d start simply by calling your 401(k) provider.
Calling or sending an email is an annoying step, but sometimes it’s faster than trying to figure it out all on your own.
How to Find Out If You’ve Already Missed Employer Match Money
The general rule is simple: The faster you max out your 401(k) in a plan without a true-up, the higher the odds that you’ll miss match money.
To check if you’ve missed out on employer match money, you’ll want to look in two places:
Your pay statements
Your 401(k) account statements
Once you have them handy, you’ll want to determine:
When you maxed out your 401(k) contributions
What employer contributions were made after that point
Based on the example we shared earlier in this article, if your employer matches 4% on a $250,000 salary, you should expect to receive $10,000 in match money for the year.
If you review your paystubs or 401(k) statements and see less than $10,000 in total employer match contributions, there’s a good chance you lost out on free match money.
Steps to Advocate for a True-Up Provision in Your 401(k) Plan
If your employer doesn’t offer a 401(k) true-up, you can always ask for one to be added. Many companies adjust their benefits based on employee feedback, and a true-up is an easy, relatively cost-neutral way to improve your 401(k) plan.
The employer match is a benefit companies are often willing to offer anyway, so why not ensure that employees utilizing the 401(k) actually receive that benefit?! Seems like a no-brainer.
Here’s how you can push for one:
Check if other employees have the same concern. If multiple people have missed match money, a collective request will carry more weight.
Find the right point of contact. This can be HR, the Benefits Manager, or whoever oversees the 401(k) plan.
Submit a formal request. A quick email is often the best approach. Keep it direct and professional.
Obviously you don’t want to be annoying, but a simple, polite request at least lets the HR team know that this is a potential change employees are interested in and, therefore, worth considering.
Final Thoughts on 401(k) True-Ups
A 401(k) true-up is a feature that should be included in every 401(k) plan. It may seem like a small thing, but missed match money can cause employees to miss out on hundreds of thousands of retirement dollars down the road.
Reviewing employee benefits is something we do as part of our PlanFTW engagement and you better believe getting to the bottom of 401(k) True-Ups is something we do often.
Please let us know if you want some help reviewing your 401(k) situation and/or if you have any questions. Thanks as always for reading!