As a small-business owner, if you’re thinking about sponsoring a 401(k) plan, you may wonder about a company match. Are small businesses required to offer a 401(k) match, or is it merely an option? The short answer is no, you don’t have to provide matching contributions to your employees’ 401(k) accounts, but there are good reasons to do it anyway. Below, we discuss the pros and cons of providing employer matching contributions as part of your 401(k) plan.

401GO, the next-generation retirement plan provider for employers, advisors and individuals, today announced the successful completion of its $12 million Series A funding round, led by Next Frontier Capital.

Many small-business owners have had high anxiety over 401(k) plans since 2017 when Oregon became the first state to mandate offering retirement accounts to employees. Small-business owners are worried they may be in violation of state laws about mandated retirement accounts, and that’s why it’s good — but not easy — to keep abreast of changes and how they affect you.

Saving for retirement is a race, and you don’t want to fall behind into that group of slackers at the back of the pack. If you think it’s all about complicated investment strategies and other nebulous concepts out of your control that you don’t fully understand, it’s not. I mean, some of it is — but a lot of it isn’t. We’re here to tell you that there are things you can do to feather your retirement nest in a fluffier way. 

We think it’s safe to say that the average working person in the U.S. doesn’t know a great deal about investing. Not only that, but the topic can even provoke anxiety, most often because the cost of a mistake in this sphere can be high. If your company just began offering a 401(k) plan, or you are thinking about opening an IRA through your company or on your own, we have a few suggestions for some things you should do to make investing easier — and to get the most out of your investments.

You have a lot to consider when you’re thinking about starting a 401(k) at your small business. It’s a big step to take, and you want to make sure you’re ready. We have (predictably), put together a short list of things we think you should consider before sponsoring a 401(k) plan at your company, but we have also put together a list of things we think you should not consider.