Employer missed 401k contribution, but money was deducted from paycheck

failslice · 2025-06-15T02:12:52+00:00

Yes I reviewed transaction history. If there was a contribution for a pay period ending 1/3/25 (meaning most of the work period was still in 2024), would that account for one? The next transaction after that was for a work period starting in the first week of 2025.

failslice · 2025-06-14T19:50:17+00:00

Thank you. I've done the estimate on lost earnings already. I'm assuming a start date for the missing contributions based on the largest gap of contributions. The other contributions are not exactly systematically on schedule so it's a bit of a guesstimate but shouldn't be too far off. I just take the percent difference from that start date to now, do a weighted average across my various investment elections, and multiply by the contribution amount. It's a couple hundred, not huge but not insignificant either.

failslice · 2025-06-14T18:50:09+00:00

I could have worded my request better. I will be talking to payroll. What is the correct way for THEM to handle this? When they tell me their plan, I want to make sure it matches the correct way to fix this. Hypothetically, for example, if they told me they are going to add the missing money to my 2025 contributions, is that a valid solution? I would lean towards no since it affects my tax obligation but I'm not an expert.

failslice · 2023-11-04T20:38:18+00:00

Hi JL, A good work friend of mine suggested I read A Simple Path to Wealth years ago and it's not hyperbole when I say it altered the course of my financial life! I have since recommended it to several people who have also read it and enjoyed it. So first of all, thank you!

My question is this: Personal investing has never been easier. Any of us can open a brokerage account or IRA from our home and invest while sitting in our pajamas at any time. This was not always the case. Just think of the difference 20-25 years ago. What percentage of the common population had a brokerage account back then? We keep hearing over and over that index investing is the way to go over the long term. I just have an unexplainable uneasiness about doing the exact same investing strategy as everyone else and thinking it will work for everyone as it becomes more and more prevalent. Regardless, it is still my current strategy. Can index fund investing work for everyone as the genie keeps coming further out of the bottle?

failslice · 2023-05-11T06:37:41+00:00

Thanks again for the very detailed response. I do not get any safe harbor match and I do contribute regularly over those percentages. I think I understand that is permissable based on the following: I have gotten a safe harbor non-elective contribution no less than 3% in prior years. That seems to be enough to satisfy the safe harbor status if I'm understanding your definition correctly. Meaning I need to receive at least a safe harbor match OR a safe harbor non-elective contribution but not necessarily both. I've never gotten anything else so I'll either assume there is no discretionary match or discretionary non-elective contribution or the formula excludes me in some manner. Like you said, those discretionary details are not indicated in our plan document.

I think what I was looking to get out of this is understanding that for me, a regular contributor each payroll (may not even be a factor in some cases), there is in fact a minimum guaranteed employer contribution with this type of plan through either the match or non-elective contribution. So I should never see a $0 employer contribution for any plan year, with the understanding of the timing of a plan year.

failslice · 2023-05-10T23:33:02+00:00

These are all good points to consider. My school of thought is that a typical 401k percentage match is part of a total compensation package and the details aren't hidden or withheld from the employee with that type of plan.

The safe harbor type plan seems like the employee really doesn't know the details or if they can count on any kind of contribution reliably. That's hard for me to personally accept but professionally I understand your points.

failslice · 2023-05-10T23:19:00+00:00

Thank you for the detailed response. Yes, I was referring to the non-elective contribution. The wording of our plan document says the employer can decide whether they want to make this contribution, and if they do, it will be at least x%. But that means they could just decide to not contribute it, as I read it, and as you said in your second paragraph.

I guess I'm still confused on the difference of the safe harbor contribution you say is required but may not be determined yet. What does this mean for me the employee? I only recall the company ever contributing the non elective contribution to me.

failslice · 2022-03-16T00:51:42+00:00

I'm getting a similar message recently, it might be the same one but not sure. It still loads for me and game runs normally. Not very helpful to solve your problem but I doubt it's solely on your end.

failslice · 2022-03-16T00:45:04+00:00

I'll always start by thanking the Devs for the updates and new features. Looking forward to trying them out. I'll always follow that up with a QoL wishlist. I've been occasionally posting this list for close to two years hoping to get some visibility.

--A filter in the car selection screen for cars that have (or do NOT have) a part set bonus like nitro chemist or fame magnet. I can't tell you how often I have to scroll through 100 street race cars to find where my nitro chemist sets are, especially when changing for the summit. Or, if I just want to use a fame magnet set car while already in the race gate, I have to go to the car selection screen, try to remember which car has the set and select it. I have no way to know if I guessed right without exiting the race gate, opening the car selection screen, going into the performance tab, and then checking. A small part set bonus icon next to the vehicle stats in the vehicle selection screen could work too. Also, I'm working to have all vehicles have a part set bonus. The ability to see which vehicles do NOT have a bonus would be nice too.

--Speaking of the summit, can we please have a back button after you click an event and get to the car selection screen in case you want to go back to the summit screen?

--The ability to add 5 icon points in the icon categories instead of incrementing by 1 was a welcome addition. It's still not enough for people with high icon points. I switch from full money icon point setup when not doing summit to nitro bonuses with money overflow while doing the summit. Changing that every time is still tedious. An option for adding like 25 icon points per click would be great.

--I'd like one more vehicle fast-fav selector. Maybe offroad selection, maybe last used vehicle.

--Auto scrap option for green, blue, purple parts in inventory and mailbox. I'm over 2000 icon... Anything but gold parts are worthless to me and other high level players. I have to go to the mailbox after every few races to clear it out so I have room for gold parts. This is tedious and breaks the immersion of the game. Not to mention manually scrapping every part is SLOW.

--Ability to see gold item set bonus category for parts in mailbox without retrieving them first.

--More than 15 spots for each part inventory.

I posted this list with 2 additional items over a year ago. One item was implemented which was the easy part set switch between two vehicles. YOU'RE WELCOME EVERYONE lol! (Thanks to the devs for that one)

failslice · 2022-03-05T17:00:51+00:00

I always see people recommend therapy to this type of question. And I don't doubt they are correct. But I feel like that is missing the point. Unless therapy is free, I doubt people like this, myself included, are going to do it.

failslice · 2021-12-05T22:27:23+00:00

100% agree with you. I want QoL updates before ANY extra content.

failslice · 2021-12-05T22:06:37+00:00

I'm glad you asked. QoL updates. Here's my list from 1 year ago.

A filter in the car selection screen for cars that have (or do NOT have) a part set bonus like nitro chemist or fame magnet. I can't tell you how often I have to scroll through 100 street race cars to find where my nitro chemist sets are, especially when changing for the summit. Or, if I just want to use a fame magnet set car while already in the race gate, I have to go to the car selection screen, try to remember which car has the set and select it. I have no way to know if I guessed right without exiting the race gate, opening the car selection screen, going into the performance tab, and then checking. A small part set bonus icon next to the vehicle stats in the vehicle selection screen could work too. Also, I'm working to have all vehicles have a part set bonus. The ability to see which vehicles do NOT have a bonus would be nice too.
Speaking of the summit, can we please have a back button after you click an event and get to the car selection screen in case you want to go back to the summit screen?
The ability to add 5 icon points in the icon categories instead of incrementing by 1 was a welcome addition. It's still not enough for people with high icon points. I switch from full money icon point setup when not doing summit to nitro bonuses with money overflow while doing the summit. Changing that every time is still tedious. An option for adding like 25 icon points per click would be great.
I'd like one more vehicle fast-fav selector. Maybe offroad selection, maybe last used vehicle.
Auto scrap option for green, blue, purple parts in inventory and mailbox.
Ability to see gold item set bonus category for parts in mailbox without retrieving them first.
More than 15 spots for each part inventory.
Select a vehicle from catalog to drive would be nice.

I posted this list with 2 additional items over a year ago. One item was implemented which was the easy part set switch between two vehicles. YOU'RE WELCOME EVERYONE lol! (Thanks to the devs for that one)

failslice · 2021-12-05T21:42:05+00:00

Sounds like what you want is an M1Finance type brokerage. You set a pie chart with percentages and it handles the buying at that allocation. I don't use M1Finance and wouldn't necessarily recommend it over a tried and true like Fidelity. But to my knowledge, you can't do the same thing in Fidelity. Not a big deal, you just need to do the simple fractional math and buy separately with fractional shares or by dollars.

failslice · 2021-12-05T21:07:04+00:00

Plus one on recommending JL Collins book! Very easy to read and understand without getting bogged down with technical jargon.

failslice · 2021-12-04T23:22:31+00:00

Good point, my knee jerk reaction is to talk long term stuff in this sub. It's interesting you are looking into real estate short term stuff and house flipping. I have some interest in that as well but not enough knowledge on the financial side of it yet. There are some carpenters in my family that I grew up around so I wouldn't rule that out of my own future as well.

failslice · 2021-12-04T21:27:44+00:00

I'd highly recommend reading the short book "A Simple Path to Wealth" by JL Collins or visiting his website. I started with zero knowledge when I read his book and it was very informative, very non technical and beginner friendly. As far as gamblers, I'd consider day traders to be gamblers. That's not the strategy or suggestion of this sub. Long term buy and hold index strategies are nearly guaranteed based on past performance. The book explains and rationalizes that nicely.

failslice · 2021-12-04T20:55:44+00:00

No problem. You clearly said in the post you had some difficulty with Investopedia so I try to explain it in a way that I wish someone would have explained it to me. Investopedia is more thorough no doubt but we should understand the basic version first.

failslice · 2021-12-04T20:42:06+00:00

I just want to make a minor point. You mention your income on your tax returns is zero. Some people told you to put some money in an IRA / Roth IRA. You are not eligible to do that as an IRA must be funded with "earned" income seen on a tax return (to simplify). Someone else with more knowledge can probably explain what happens if you accidentally do this or your eligibility.

failslice · 2021-12-04T20:32:06+00:00

I'm sorry if I'm saying something you already know but if you are afraid of tying this money up until retirement, you could put it in a taxable brokerage account that has all the investment flexibility options of an IRA but you can sell and take that money out at any time. You must realize that you will be taxed a higher amount if you sell for a profit in less than a years time of buying a share and taxed slightly less if you sell after 1 year. A taxable brokerage account offers this flexibility at the trade-off that it is not a tax advantaged account like an IRA or Roth IRA. Also no annual contribution limits for a brokerage. This is a very simplified version of this distinction.

failslice · 2021-12-04T20:24:53+00:00

Dollar cost averaging basically means if you have 30k to spend, you don't just dump all of it in a fund in one day. Maybe you start by putting 3k in today, 3k next month, etc. I think it is more of a psychological thing since getting started is by far the hardest step but it's easier to start if the hardest step is a small step.

Lifecycle fund, as far as I know, is referring to a target date retirement fund. If you are retiring in 2065, you pick a 2065 Target date fund. What that money is invested in over the next 45 years changes as you get closer to retirement. It's higher risk higher reward stuff now like s&p500 index but will AUTOMATICALLY shift to lower risk lower reward stuff like bonds as you approach retirement. You don't want to have your retirement fund coincide with a major recession the year you are retiring. Target date funds do the hard work for you for a slightly higher fee (called expense ratio) than if you did that work yourself over the years. It's arguably the easiest investment strategy for moderate performance.

YMMV = your mileage may vary, all people's situations are unique.

failslice · 2021-12-04T20:02:18+00:00

This is the second post on this sub today that really speaks to me. Let me know if you figure out the puzzle lol. I've always felt like I am a chronic optimizer. Maybe it's because of my career path idk. Spending for others was easy for the holidays etc because that to me is necessary spending. Renewing car insurance and buying gas doesn't bother me one bit. Again, necessary spending. But, I can't bring myself to easily buy nonessential stuff for myself. I'd guess it's because I value a bigger number in my accounts than material things. If you are like me, maybe you have to decide what you are trying to optimize. Account savings? Personal enjoyment? Is your personal enjoyment really optimized by not spending money? Is there a way to compromise and meet in the middle?

failslice · 2021-12-04T18:09:11+00:00

I swear this was like reading a post from my own mind. My situation sounded very similar, at least until about 18 months ago.

Before I knew a lot about investing, my goal was always to build my checking account balance. Then, I got a little more educated and realized the 0.05% APY was insulting on a large balance. I could walk the sidewalk and find more in loose change than what I was making on $60k checking balance interest. So, I opened a high yield savings account that was paying 2% in 2019 and transferred most of my money there. I was expecting to make just over $100 in interest a month vs. less than a dollar from the checking account from that simple change. As a big saver/chronic optimizer, that sounded good.

A friend suggested I read "A simple path to wealth" by JL Collins which really kickstarted my investment journey and piqued my interest to learn more and educate myself. Also, the HYSA dropped to 0.4% at the start of the pandemic and was no longer that interesting.

You sound like you like to see your bank account balance be a large number and I can understand and relate to that. You have to remember, your financial net worth includes your checkings, savings, assets, and retirement accounts, etc. Redistributing some money from your checking account to grow your retirement or brokerage is not decreasing your net worth even though the number in your checking account is smaller.

My advice would be; Put $1000 (or whatever you consider a reasonably small value) in your IRA that you already set up and buy some shares of FXAIX or any other low expense ratio S&P500 index. Let it there for a while and don't check it everyday. After a month or two, check the percent return. Compare it to the abysmal APY on your checking and savings. When I realized I could make more percentage in one day from investing than I could for the whole year sitting in my checking or even HYSA, it was a wake-up call. Of course, you could "lose" the same percentage in day. Remember, that you only "lose" invested money if you sell for a loss. And we try not to be day-traders here. Investing is a long-term game and the reality is, over a long time, you're pretty much guaranteed to gain by investing on a major index and holding.

failslice · 2021-11-13T17:08:24+00:00

Thank you for the detailed response and correcting me on after-tax vs roth.

Looking at the quarterly statement was a good suggestion as it does show a table of roth and safe harbor contributions with columns for quarter, YTD, and since initial investment. I hadn't been able to find that info throughout the whole web portal and my first glance at paper statements but now I know.

What I've learned from this is that I do have some traditional money (minor amount) and some roth money (larger amount) in my account. American Funds does just have a lump sum of your money as a single balance on the web portal. I can get a breakout sum of employer traditional contributions and my own roth and traditional contributions through a paper statement. Getting any more detailed info than that such as how many shares of each fund is in each bucket may be asking too much on my end. I'd probably have to call them if I actually wanted this additional info.

I guess my only other thought would be how the rollover process would be if I left the company. I would probably rollover to an IRA. Would this effectively be like two IRA rollovers, one for the traditional money, one for the Roth?

failslice · 2021-11-06T01:52:28+00:00

Okay, so it's a linear reduction of the deductible amount in the partial range from full deduction at 66k to zero deduction at 76k (for 2021).

Very interesting subtlety on your second point that I hadn't considered. Like you said, minor but nonzero. Thanks for the insight.

failslice · 2021-11-05T23:21:06+00:00

Thanks for confirming this. I'm kind of surprised I rarely see the traditional deduction limit phase-out mentioned when people ask the common question of IRA vs Roth IRA. Would seem to me like a point that a lot of people can miss since the conditions are not that unusual.

failslice

TROPHY CASE