International Business Machines Corporation 401(k) match
IBM 401(k) Plan · IBM · CIK 51143
The 401(k) employer match
No employer match
International Business Machines Corporation's filing discloses no employer matching contribution for this plan.
From the Form 11-K filed June 26, 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: the formula, word for word · what it used to be · when the money becomes yours · who can join · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
What IBM puts in, and what the plan costs
What IBM puts in
$0
a year, at any salary.
The filing discloses no employer contribution to this plan.
The match paragraph, word for word
“As previously disclosed, beginning January 1, 2024, IBM began providing a new cash balance retirement benefit to eligible employees under the company's existing U.S. Defined Benefit Qualified Personal Pension Plan (Qualified PPP) called the Retirement Benefit Account (RBA). IBM's contributions to the Plan ended and employees can continue to make contributions to the Plan.”
What you contribute to collect all of it
Nothing to collect
The filing discloses no employer contribution to this plan, so no contribution rate collects one.
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 in the Plan are at all times fully vested in their account balance, including employee contributions, prior IBM contributions and earnings thereon, if any.”
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
98th percentile
$229.90 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 98% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is IBM's 401(k) match formula?
IBM's filing discloses no employer matching contribution for this plan. Employer money that does not depend on what you put in is not a match, whatever the plan calls it. What counts as a match sets out the difference.
| Maximum employer match | 0% of compensation |
|---|---|
| Current formula effective | January 1, 2024 |
What the filing says, word for word
“As previously disclosed, beginning January 1, 2024, IBM began providing a new cash balance retirement benefit to eligible employees under the company's existing U.S. Defined Benefit Qualified Personal Pension Plan (Qualified PPP) called the Retirement Benefit Account (RBA). IBM's contributions to the Plan ended and employees can continue to make contributions to the Plan.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 26, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What did IBM's 401(k) match used to be?
IBM changed its 401(k) match on January 1, 2024. The plan now has no employer match, per the filing.
| Since January 1, 2024 | No employer match, per the filing |
|---|---|
| Before | IBM previously made contributions to the Plan; effective January 1, 2024, IBM's contributions to the Plan ended when IBM began providing the Retirement Benefit Account (RBA), a cash balance benefit under the U.S. Defined Benefit Qualified Personal Pension Plan (outside this Plan). The prior match formula is not stated in this filing. |
We keep a dated page for it: IBM ended employer contributions to its 401(k) plan, effective January 1, 2024.
What is IBM's 401(k) vesting schedule?
IBM vests employer contributions to the plan 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 | Participants are at all times fully vested in their entire account balance, including prior IBM contributions and earnings thereon |
Vesting, word for word
“Participants in the Plan are at all times fully vested in their account balance, including employee contributions, prior IBM contributions and earnings thereon, if any.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 26, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join IBM's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
IBM enrolls new hires automatically at 5% of pay.
| Plan entry | All eligible active, full-time and part-time regular and long-term supplemental U.S. employees of IBM and certain of its domestic related companies and partnerships; newly hired employees are automatically enrolled after approximately 30 days of employment |
|---|---|
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 5% of pay; default investment: Default Target Retirement fund that most closely corresponds to the year in which the participant will reach age 65 |
Eligibility, word for word
“The Plan offers all eligible active, full-time and part-time regular and long-term supplemental United States (U.S.) employees of International Business Machines Corporation (“IBM”) and certain of its domestic related companies and partnerships an opportunity to defer from 1 to 80 percent of their eligible compensation for before-tax 401(k) and/or Roth 401(k) contributions to any of 35 primary investment funds and about 160 mutual and commingled funds in an “Expanded Choice - Select Funds.””
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“Newly hired employees are automatically enrolled at 5 percent of eligible salary and performance pay after approximately 30 days of employment with IBM, unless they elect otherwise. Participants are able to choose to have their contributions invested entirely in one of, or in any combination of, the 35 primary funds and about 160 mutual and commingled funds in the Expanded Choice - Select Funds, in multiples of one percent. If participants do not make an investment election, then contributions will be invested in the default Target Retirement fund that most closely corresponds to the year in which they will reach age 65.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 26, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the IBM plan report on Form 5500?
The IBM plan reported $60.4B in assets and 156,865 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 | IBM 401(k) Plan |
|---|---|
| Total plan assets | $60,393,556,150 |
| Participants | 156,865 |
| Recordkeeper | Fidelity Investments |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $229.90 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $229.90 per participant. The median across plans in software and IT services is $125.69, from the 2,819 of 2,956 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
The plan reports Fidelity Investments as its recordkeeper, one of 10,593 plans it runs in the data we publish. Of those, the 10,022 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $97.71 per participant.
IBM 401(k) Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials
How does IBM's 401(k) match compare?
International Business Machines Corporation pays no employer 401(k) match. Across the 181 companies in our data with a computable formula, the median maximum match is 4.5% of pay.
Employers worth reading next
Of the six employers below, two disclose no employer match either, three file in software and IT services and one reports the same recordkeeper.
No match; the employer contributes on its own. Discloses no employer match either.
No match; the employer contributes on its own. Discloses no employer match either.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also in software and IT services.
Employer match vests immediately. Also in software and IT services.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also in software and IT services.
Employer match vests immediately. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Compare International Business Machines Corporation with any company, side by side
What can you do next?
Check your own balance and contribution rate at Fidelity NetBenefits ↗, the recordkeeper this plan reports.
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 26, 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 International Business Machines Corporation's 401(k) match?
International Business Machines Corporation's filing discloses no employer matching contribution for this plan (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the International Business Machines Corporation 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does International Business Machines Corporation's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 5% of pay; default investment: Default Target Retirement fund that most closely corresponds to the year in which the participant will reach age 65.
Did International Business Machines Corporation change its 401(k) match?
Yes. IBM previously made contributions to the Plan; effective January 1, 2024, IBM's contributions to the Plan ended when IBM began providing the Retirement Benefit Account (RBA), a cash balance benefit under the U.S. Defined Benefit Qualified Personal Pension Plan (outside this Plan). The prior match formula is not stated in this filing. The current terms took effect January 1, 2024.
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “International Business Machines Corporation 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000051143-26-000064, plan year ended 2025-12-31.