American Electric Power Company, Inc. 401(k) match: 4.5% max
AEP Retirement Savings 401(k) Plan · AEP · CIK 4904
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
4.5%
American Electric Power Company, Inc. matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 1% of pay, then 70% of the next 5% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 4.5% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 25, 2026 ↗, covering the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Page data last updated July 28, 2026, when the Form 5500 bulk data was last refreshed. Why filings lag
On this page: what the employer actually paid in · the formula, word for word · when the money becomes yours · who can join · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
What American Electric Power puts in, and what the plan costs
What American Electric Power put into the plan, per active participant
$4,973
American Electric Power Company, Inc. put $4,973 into this plan for each of its 16,345 active participants in plan year 2024. This is the whole employer side of the plan: matching money, profit sharing, non-elective and safe-harbor contributions, and reallocated forfeitures. The Form 5500 does not separate them, so this is what the employer put in and not the match.
American Electric Power put in less per active participant than 71% of plans with 5,000+ participants at utilities. The middle plan in that group of 39 reported $5,837. Utilities comes from business code 221100, which American Electric Power entered on its own Form 5500. Sponsors pick that code themselves, so a code that does not describe what the employer does ranks the plan against the wrong companies.
What this figure cannot separate: how much American Electric Power pays, and how much it puts in
This is dollars, not a rate. A Form 5500 carries no payroll, so the figure reflects both how much the employer puts in and how much the employer pays: two plans running the same formula report different amounts when one pays better. Crossing the peer group with industry holds most of that difference still, and none of it disappears.
This is one plan year, not an average. A true-up, a plan merger or a one-off contribution moves a single year on its own.
Source: DOL Form 5500 for the plan year ended December 31, 2024, EIN 134922641, plan 002 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $4,973 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. American Electric Power Company, Inc. also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $2,228 a year at a $49,500 salary. That second figure is what the formula pays one worker on that salary, and not an amount either filing reports. The two figures cover different plan years and measure different things, so neither one is the other one corrected.
What American Electric Power puts in
$2,228
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“The participating employers contribute to the Plan, on behalf of each participant, an amount equal to 100% of the participant’s non-rollover contributions up to 1% of the participant’s eligible compensation for each payroll period, plus 70% of the participant’s contributions for the next 5% of the participant’s eligible compensation for each payroll period, subject to certain limitations.”
What you contribute to collect all of it
Contribute at least 6% of your pay to collect the full match.
That is $2,970 a year at a $49,500 salary, and it scales with your own.
Vesting score
100 out of 100
How fast the employer’s money becomes yours. Higher than 48% of the 253 schedules we have scored.
It measures vesting speed and nothing else. It says nothing about the size of the match, what the plan charges, or the funds inside it.
Share of the employer's money that is the worker's at hire and at each of the first 6 anniversaries: 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%. The score is the average of those 7 readings.
Vesting, word for word
“Participants are immediately vested in their pretax, after-tax, Roth 401(k) and the Company contributions, including earnings thereon. Certain matching contributions made to participants of the AEP Energy, Inc. 401(k) Retirement Plan may be only partially vested in accordance with existing vesting positions of this plan.”
The wait before the match starts and the year-end true-up appear above when the filing states them. Neither is part of the score, and a filing that is silent on one of them is not a plan without it.
What the plan costs, against plans of its size
99th percentile
$311.04 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 99% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is American Electric Power's 401(k) match formula?
American Electric Power's 401(k) employer match tops out at 4.5% of pay. The match is deposited each payroll. A tiered formula pays its best rate on the first slice of pay and less on the next, which is how the rate steps down.
| Match formula | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 1% of pay |
|---|---|
| then | 70% of the next 5% of pay |
| Maximum employer match | 4.5% of compensation |
| Deposited | Each payroll |
| Conditions | The match applies to non-rollover contributions per payroll period, subject to certain limitations |
At a $45,000 salary, contributing 6% ($2,700) earns the full employer match of $2,025 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“The participating employers contribute to the Plan, on behalf of each participant, an amount equal to 100% of the participant’s non-rollover contributions up to 1% of the participant’s eligible compensation for each payroll period, plus 70% of the participant’s contributions for the next 5% of the participant’s eligible compensation for each payroll period, subject to certain limitations.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 25, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is American Electric Power's 401(k) vesting schedule?
American Electric Power vests the employer match immediately: 100% is yours as soon as it is paid in. Nothing is forfeited when you leave, which is not true of the two schedules that vest over time.
| Employer match vesting | Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed |
|---|---|
| Your own contributions | Immediate: always 100% yours |
| Other employer contributions | Certain matching contributions made to participants of the merged AEP Energy, Inc. 401(k) Retirement Plan may be only partially vested per that plan's prior vesting schedule |
Vesting, word for word
“Participants are immediately vested in their pretax, after-tax, Roth 401(k) and the Company contributions, including earnings thereon. Certain matching contributions made to participants of the AEP Energy, Inc. 401(k) Retirement Plan may be only partially vested in accordance with existing vesting positions of this plan.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 25, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join American Electric Power's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
American Electric Power enrolls new hires automatically at 6% of pay, rising 1% a year to 10% of pay.
| Plan entry | Full-time and part-time employees of the participating subsidiaries of AEP who are not excluded by the terms of the Plan |
|---|---|
| Excluded groups | Employees excluded by the terms of the Plan, such as pursuant to a unionized collective bargaining agreement |
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 6% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 10%; default investment: Target date fund based on the participant's date of birth corresponding to an estimated retirement date |
Eligibility, word for word
“The Plan covers full-time and part-time employees of the participating subsidiaries of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP or the Company) who are not excluded by the terms of the Plan, such as pursuant to a unionized collective bargaining agreement.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“Newly eligible employees are automatically enrolled with a 6% pretax deferral. Such deferrals automatically increase each year by 1% to a maximum of 10%. Employees may opt out of the automatic enrollment or revise their elections after they are notified of their right not to have such pretax deferrals made on their behalf and how their account will be invested in the absence of their making an investment election.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 25, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the American Electric Power plan report on Form 5500?
The American Electric Power plan reported $5.2B in assets and 22,387 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $5,196,173,403 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 22,387 |
| Recordkeeper | Empower Retirement |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $311.04 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $311.04 per participant. The median across plans at utilities is $138.21, from the 387 of 407 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
Aep Retirement Savings 401(k) Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials
How does American Electric Power's 401(k) match compare?
American Electric Power Company, Inc.'s maximum 401(k) match of 4.5% of pay compares with a median of 4.5% across the 181 companies in our data with a computable formula.
Employers worth reading next
Of the six employers below, three file at utilities, two land near American Electric Power's maximum match and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also at utilities.
Maximum match 5.1% of pay. Also at utilities.
Maximum match 3% of pay. Also at utilities.
Maximum match 4.25% of pay, 0.25 points below American Electric Power.
Maximum match 4.5% of pay, level with American Electric Power.
Maximum match 3% of pay. Vests immediately too, like American Electric Power.
Compare American Electric Power Company, Inc. with any company, side by side
What can you do next?
Check your own balance and contribution rate at Empower ↗, the recordkeeper this plan reports.
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 25, 2026, SEC EDGAR. Every match fact on this page comes from it.
- Changed jobs? Find an old 401(k) ↗
The Department of Labor's Retirement Savings Lost & Found, a free government database.
- This year's IRS contribution limits ↗
The official deferral and catch-up limits every formula operates under.
- Download this data (CSV)
Formula, vesting and source references for this company, one file.
Questions this filing answers
What is American Electric Power Company, Inc.'s 401(k) match?
American Electric Power Company, Inc. matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 1% of pay, then 70% of the next 5% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 4.5% of compensation (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the American Electric Power Company, Inc. 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does American Electric Power Company, Inc.'s 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 6% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 10%; default investment: Target date fund based on the participant's date of birth corresponding to an estimated retirement date.
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “American Electric Power Company, Inc. 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000004904-26-000041, plan year ended 2025-12-31.