The Charles Schwab Corporation 401(k) match: 5% max
SchwabPlan Retirement Savings and Investment Plan · SCHW · CIK 316709
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
5%
The Charles Schwab Corporation matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 5% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 10, 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 Charles Schwab puts in, and what the plan costs
What Charles Schwab put into the plan, per active participant
$6,786
The Charles Schwab Corporation put $6,786 into this plan for each of its 32,145 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.
Charles Schwab put in more per active participant than 50% of plans with 5,000+ participants in investment management and securities. The middle plan in that group of 45 reported $6,786. Investment management and securities comes from business code 523120, which Charles Schwab 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 Charles Schwab 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 943025021, plan 002 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $6,786 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. The Charles Schwab Corporation also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $2,475 a year at a $49,500 salary, and the same filing states employer contributions made outside the match. 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 Charles Schwab puts in
$2,475
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“Such contributions may be matched by CSC’s contribution (Basic Match) equal to $250 on the first dollar contributed each year, and 100 percent of salary deferred, up to a maximum of 5% of eligible compensation.”
What you contribute to collect all of it
Contribute at least 5% of your pay to collect the full match.
That is $2,475 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 401(k) contributions, rollovers, Basic Match, and investment earnings on these amounts. Vesting of the discretionary Profit Contribution is dependent upon the participants’ number of years of service: 1 Year of Service – 0%; 2 Years of Service – 25%; 3 Years of Service – 50%; and 4 Years of Service or more – 100%. A year of service is defined as a calendar year during which the participant has completed at least 1,000 hours of service.”
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
82nd percentile
$98.30 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 82% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Charles Schwab's 401(k) match formula?
Charles Schwab's 401(k) employer match tops out at 5% of pay. One rate up to one limit is the commonest of the four shapes a match formula takes.
| Match formula | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 5% of pay |
|---|---|
| Maximum employer match | 5% of compensation |
| Conditions | The Basic Match also includes $250 on the first dollar contributed each year. Catch-up contributions and after-tax employee contributions are not eligible for the Basic Match. Roth 401(k) contributions may be matched in the same manner as pre-tax contributions. |
| Other employer contribution | Discretionary Profit Contribution based on CSC performance; requires being an eligible employee on the last workday of the year, compensation not exceeding a Board-specified amount, and at least 1,000 hours of service; no Profit Contribution was made for 2025 |
At a $60,000 salary, contributing 5% ($3,000) earns the full employer match of $3,000 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“Such contributions may be matched by CSC’s contribution (Basic Match) equal to $250 on the first dollar contributed each year, and 100 percent of salary deferred, up to a maximum of 5% of eligible compensation.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 10, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is Charles Schwab's 401(k) vesting schedule?
Charles Schwab 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 | Discretionary Profit Contribution vests by years of service: 1 year 0%, 2 years 25%, 3 years 50%, 4 or more years 100%; a year of service is a calendar year with at least 1,000 hours of service |
Vesting, word for word
“Participants are immediately vested in their 401(k) contributions, rollovers, Basic Match, and investment earnings on these amounts. Vesting of the discretionary Profit Contribution is dependent upon the participants’ number of years of service: 1 Year of Service – 0%; 2 Years of Service – 25%; 3 Years of Service – 50%; and 4 Years of Service or more – 100%. A year of service is defined as a calendar year during which the participant has completed at least 1,000 hours of service.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 10, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Charles Schwab's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Charles Schwab enrolls new hires automatically at 6% of pay, rising 1% a year to 15% of pay.
| Plan entry | Eligible employees may participate in the 401(k) salary deferral program upon their hire date |
|---|---|
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 6% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 15% |
Eligibility, word for word
“Eligible employees may participate in the 401(k) salary deferral program upon their hire date.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“Employees who do not enroll are automatically enrolled at a pre-tax contribution rate of 6% and may change or stop contributions to the Plan at any time. Participants may elect to have up to 50% of their eligible compensation (generally defined as wages as reported on Form W-2) contributed directly to the Plan, not to exceed the limit on 401(k) deferrals under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ($23,500 in 2025). Such contributions may be matched by CSC’s contribution (Basic Match) equal to $250 on the first dollar contributed each year, and 100 percent of salary deferred, up to a maximum of 5% of eligible compensation. The Plan features an Annual Savings Adjustment Program that automatically increases current 401(k) contribution elections by 1% each year until the total contribution election reaches 15%.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 10, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the Charles Schwab plan report on Form 5500?
The Charles Schwab plan reported $8.9B in assets and 44,441 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $8,932,117,605 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 44,441 |
| Recordkeeper | Schwab Retirement Plan Services |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $98.30 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $98.30 per participant. The median across plans in investment management and securities is $111.34, from the 882 of 960 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
How does Charles Schwab's 401(k) match compare?
The Charles Schwab Corporation's maximum 401(k) match of 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 in investment management and securities, two land near Charles Schwab's maximum match and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Also in investment management and securities.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also in investment management and securities.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also in investment management and securities.
Maximum match 5% of pay, level with Charles Schwab.
Maximum match 5% of pay, level with Charles Schwab.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Vests immediately too, like Charles Schwab.
Compare The Charles Schwab Corporation with any company, side by side
What can you do next?
Check your own balance and contribution rate at Schwab Workplace ↗, the recordkeeper this plan reports.
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 10, 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 The Charles Schwab Corporation's 401(k) match?
The Charles Schwab Corporation matches 100% of employee contributions up to 5% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the The Charles Schwab Corporation 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does The Charles Schwab Corporation's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 6% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 15%.
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “The Charles Schwab Corporation 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000316709-26-000023, plan year ended 2025-12-31.