401K Benchmarking Exercise - Assistance Requested - post regarding Raymond James Financial Inc. layoffs

401K Benchmarking Exercise - Assistance Requested

I currently work at BNY Mellon. Our CEO recently announced a change to the 401K plan. Currently our company match (max 7%) is implemented each pay period. Starting in 2023, the match will be paid at the end of the year (actually, three months after year-end). This change will result in any employees who leave before year-end missing out on contributions to their 401K plan. At a recent town hall, our CEO justified the change by stating that the company has decided to pay out this reward only to employees that will be with us in the future, and also that this new policy is in line with industry practice.

Current trust in our management is low. In addition to this change, the CEO announced with great fanfare that all members of staff that don’t currently receive shares will receive a gift of 10 shares. The media has picked up this story, though none have reported that this “gift” is coming out of our year-end bonus. So, instead of just receiving an all-cash reward, part of our bonus is being deferred 3 years, assuming we are still with the company. Yea!

Given our low trust in management, I am curious as to the validity of the statement that this new 401K policy aligns with industry practice. As such, I am posting this message on this website for all companies listed in our proxy statement as being peers of BNY Mellon. I would appreciate information on the following questions:
• Is the 401K match paid each pay period or at year-end?
• What is the maximum match provided by the company?

Thank you for reading and hopefully participating.

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6 replies (most recent on top)

Rumors are this is coming at alot of companies including Truist.

So if 2021 and 2022 were record years, why were the ESOP and Profit Sharing contributions for those years were lower than in 2018 and 2019? It’s easy to nickel and dime the little guy. Oh well, a hearty “Thank you for all you do” goes a long way towards paying the bills and funding retirements, I suppose.

Once a year. All retirement contributions (profit sharing, employee stock option plan and 401k) at Rj are in January for the prior year.

Every two years at large corporations, the human resources department unveils a new and improved salary structure with a lot of fanfare and hoopla. When you filter through the smog, the salary structure is not much different. They are simply paying attention to you, and they are telling you that they are paying attention to you and that is supposed to make you feel better. Unfortunately, most people do feel better.

At times like this I like to quote Adolf Hi---r, “How fortunate for leaders that men do not think.”

Thank you for thinking.

RJF also has an Employee Stock Purchase Plan in which you buy RJF stock at 15% off.

You must hold it for one year, then it's yours without restrictions.

One strategy is to sell it after one year (long term capital gains), then buy it back at a lower price. Repeat each year. HR Payroll automatically withholds the taxes because the 15% discount is treated like a taxable employee benefit.

If you sell it after two years, HR Payroll does not withhold the taxes but you are still responsible for the income tax on your IRS Form 1040.

The quarterly dividends, which are qualified dividends, are modest, but appreciated.

RJ only matches 1% on 401(k), which vests after 5 yrs of service.

We do however have a profit sharing plan, and a employee stock ownership fund, which the annual combination of both of these comes out to around 6%, again vesting after 5 years of service.

So the total is also 7% at RJ, but you have to work here for 5 yrs to be fully vested.

Thread regarding Raymond James Financial Inc. layoffs

401K Benchmarking Exercise - Assistance Requested

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