The Cigna Group 401(k) match: 5% max
The Cigna Group 401(k) Plan · CI · CIK 1739940
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
5%
The Cigna Group matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay, then 50% of the next 2% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 5% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 24, 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 Cigna puts in, and what the plan costs
What Cigna put into the plan, per active participant
$4,486
The Cigna Group put $4,486 into this plan for each of its 66,532 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.
Cigna put in less per active participant than 58% of plans with 5,000+ participants in insurance. The middle plan in that group of 98 reported $5,049. Insurance comes from business code 524290, which Cigna 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.
Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing. This record could cover another plan of the same employer.
What this figure cannot separate: how much Cigna 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 824991898, plan 002 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $4,486 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. The Cigna Group 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 Cigna puts in
$2,475
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“All employees are eligible for employer-matching contributions as soon as they join the Plan. The maximum effective regular matching contribution is 5% of a participant's first 6% of eligible pay. The match formula is equal to 100% on the first 4% of eligible pay contributed (a 4% of pay match) plus 50% on the next 2% of pay contributed (a 1% pay match). The company match rate applies to pre-tax, Roth contributions, after-tax contributions and catch-up contributions – to the extent those contributions are part of an employee's first 6% of pay contributed.”
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
71.43 out of 100
How fast the employer’s money becomes yours. Higher than 32% 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: 0%, 0%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%, 100%. The score is the average of those 7 readings.
Vesting, word for word
“Employer contributions and related investment earnings become fully vested upon completion of two years of service. Employer contributions made at any time and related investment earnings become fully vested earlier when an employee reaches age 65; dies; becomes totally and permanently disabled; or continues to be employed by a participating Cigna company that is sold and does not maintain a successor plan. Early vesting also would occur if Cigna discontinues matching contributions or terminates the Plan. Participants earn a year of vesting service if they have at least 1,000 hours of service during the calendar year.”
The plan tops the match up after year end, so contributing unevenly through the year does not cost the worker part of it.
The same match paragraph, word for word
“All employees are eligible for employer-matching contributions as soon as they join the Plan. The maximum effective regular matching contribution is 5% of a participant's first 6% of eligible pay. The match formula is equal to 100% on the first 4% of eligible pay contributed (a 4% of pay match) plus 50% on the next 2% of pay contributed (a 1% pay match). The company match rate applies to pre-tax, Roth contributions, after-tax contributions and catch-up contributions – to the extent those contributions are part of an employee's first 6% of pay contributed.”
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
19th percentile
$24.84 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, cheaper than 81% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Cigna's 401(k) match formula?
Cigna's 401(k) employer match tops out at 5% of pay. The match is deposited each payroll and the plan pays an annual true-up. What an annual true-up repays is the arithmetic behind that line: it matters most in a year when contributions land unevenly.
| Match formula | 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay |
|---|---|
| then | 50% of the next 2% of pay |
| Maximum employer match | 5% of compensation |
| True-upA year-end recalculation that repays match lost to uneven contributions. | Yes, annual true-up |
| Deposited | Each payroll |
| Conditions | The company match rate applies to pre-tax, Roth contributions, after-tax contributions and catch-up contributions - to the extent those contributions are part of an employee's first 6% of pay contributed. Rollover contributions are not described as match-eligible. |
| Other employer contribution | SCA Contributions: certain former participants of the Express Scripts, Inc. 401(k) Plan receive additional contributions to comply with the Service Contract Act of 1965 (approximately $2.9 million for the 2025 plan year) |
| Other employer contribution | Discretionary matching contributions are provided for under the Plan, but the Plan Sponsor did not make one for 2025 or 2024 |
At a $45,000 salary, contributing 6% ($2,700) earns the full employer match of $2,250 for the year.
Cigna appears in our match-change tracker. We keep a dated page for it: Cigna changed the rules of its 401(k) match, effective January 1, 2026.
What the filing says, word for word
“All employees are eligible for employer-matching contributions as soon as they join the Plan. The maximum effective regular matching contribution is 5% of a participant's first 6% of eligible pay. The match formula is equal to 100% on the first 4% of eligible pay contributed (a 4% of pay match) plus 50% on the next 2% of pay contributed (a 1% pay match). The company match rate applies to pre-tax, Roth contributions, after-tax contributions and catch-up contributions – to the extent those contributions are part of an employee's first 6% of pay contributed.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 24, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What is Cigna's 401(k) vesting schedule?
Cigna vests the employer match on a cliff schedule: nothing is yours until two years of service, then 100% at once. Leave a day early and the employer money goes back to the plan, the edge a two-year cliff creates.
| Employer match vesting | Cliff: 100% vested after 2 years of service |
|---|---|
| Your own contributions | Immediate: always 100% yours |
| Year of service | Participants earn a year of vesting service if they have at least 1,000 hours of service during the calendar year |
| Accelerated vesting | Full vesting on reaching age 65, death, total and permanent disability, continued employment with a participating Cigna company that is sold and does not maintain a successor plan, discontinuance of matching contributions, or Plan termination |
| Other employer contributions | Non-elective SCA employer contributions and related investment earnings are always fully vested |
Vesting, word for word
“Employer contributions and related investment earnings become fully vested upon completion of two years of service. Employer contributions made at any time and related investment earnings become fully vested earlier when an employee reaches age 65; dies; becomes totally and permanently disabled; or continues to be employed by a participating Cigna company that is sold and does not maintain a successor plan. Early vesting also would occur if Cigna discontinues matching contributions or terminates the Plan. Participants earn a year of vesting service if they have at least 1,000 hours of service during the calendar year.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 24, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Cigna's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Cigna enrolls new hires automatically; the filing does not state the default deferral rate.
| Plan entry | Generally, all U.S.-based employees of participating subsidiaries and affiliates of The Cigna Group are eligible to participate in the Plan |
|---|---|
| Match eligibility | All employees are eligible for employer-matching contributions as soon as they join the Plan (a one-year waiting period applies to employees first hired after December 31, 2025) |
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: auto-escalation +1%/yr to 14%; default investment: Age-appropriate Moderate target portfolio under Empower Retirement's GoalMaker asset allocation program (QDIA) |
Eligibility, word for word
“Generally, all U.S.-based employees of participating subsidiaries and affiliates of The Cigna Group (“Cigna” or “Plan Sponsor”) are eligible to participate in the Plan.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“New employees are automatically enrolled in the Plan 30 days after date of hire and are eligible to receive the maximum regular matching contribution. These new employees can opt out of auto enrollment as well as the Contribution Accelerator.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 24, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the Cigna plan report on Form 5500?
The Cigna plan reported $14.2B in assets and 88,684 participants for plan year 2024.
Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing. This record could cover another plan of the same employer.
| Plan named in the DOL record | The Cigna Group 401(k) Plan |
|---|---|
| Total plan assets | $14,203,086,080 |
| Participants | 88,684 |
| Recordkeeper | Empower Ann Ins Co Of America |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $24.84 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $24.84 per participant. The median across plans in insurance is $119.27, from the 1,004 of 1,068 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
The Cigna Group 401(k) Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials
How does Cigna's 401(k) match compare?
The Cigna Group'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 insurance, two land near Cigna's maximum match and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also in insurance.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Also in insurance.
Maximum match 3% of pay. Also in insurance.
Maximum match 5% of pay, level with Cigna.
Maximum match 5% of pay, level with Cigna.
Maximum match 4.5% of pay. Same 2-year cliff as Cigna.
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 24, 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 Cigna Group's 401(k) match?
The Cigna Group matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 4% of pay, then 50% of the next 2% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 5% of compensation (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the The Cigna Group 401(k) match vest?
Cliff: 100% vested after 2 years of service.
Does The Cigna Group's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: auto-escalation +1%/yr to 14%; default investment: Age-appropriate Moderate target portfolio under Empower Retirement's GoalMaker asset allocation program (QDIA).
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “The Cigna Group 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0001739940-26-000051, plan year ended 2025-12-31.