LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC 401(k): Fidelity, match 3% max
The Lincoln Electric Company Employee Savings Plan · LECO · CIK 59527
Fidelity Investments is the recordkeeper named on the Form 5500 filed for this plan, the company that keeps the account records. Where to log in, and what the filing says.
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
3%
LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 3% 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 · who holds your account · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
What LINCOLN ELECTRIC puts in, and what the plan costs
What LINCOLN ELECTRIC put into the plan, per active participant
$2,475
LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC put $2,475 into this plan for each of its 5,539 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.
LINCOLN ELECTRIC put in less per active participant than 69% of plans with 5,000+ participants in industrial and materials manufacturing. The middle plan in that group of 178 reported $3,585. Industrial and materials manufacturing comes from business code 335900, which LINCOLN ELECTRIC 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 LINCOLN ELECTRIC 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 340359955, plan 005 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $2,475 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $1,485 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 LINCOLN ELECTRIC puts in
$1,485
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“In general, participants may receive up to 6% of their annual compensation, which is defined as base pay and bonus compensation, in Company contributions through: (1) Company matching contributions of 100% of the first 3% of participant compensation contributed to the Plan; and (2) Automatic Company contributions equal to 3% of annual compensation.”
What you contribute to collect all of it
Contribute at least 3% of your pay to collect the full match.
That is $1,485 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 369 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
“In addition, certain employees who were participants in the Company’s RAP receive employer contributions equal to 6% of annual compensation for a minimum of five years or to the end of the year in which they complete 30 years of service. In general, Company contributions are 100% vested when made. A small percentage of participants (from acquired companies) have different Company contribution and vesting provisions applicable to them, as described in the Plan.”
A worker hired today collects no match for 6 months. This is a filed term, and it does not move the score above.
Eligibility, word for word
“The Plan is a defined contribution plan covering certain employees of The Lincoln Electric Company and certain related entities (“the Company”), as defined by the Plan. The Plan provides that regular, full-time employees are eligible to make participant contributions immediately and all other eligible employees after completion of 1,000 hours in any year of service with the Company. Such employees will be eligible for Company contributions following six months of regular, full-time employment or 1,000 hours in any year of service with the Company. The Plan is subject to the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”).”
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
29th percentile
$35.28 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, cheaper than 71% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is LINCOLN ELECTRIC's 401(k) match formula?
LINCOLN ELECTRIC's 401(k) employer match tops out at 3% 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 3% of pay |
|---|---|
| Maximum employer match | 3% of compensation |
| Conditions | In general, participants may receive up to 6% of their annual compensation (base pay and bonus compensation) in Company contributions through the matching contribution and the automatic Company contribution combined. A small percentage of participants from acquired companies have different Company contribution provisions. |
| Other employer contribution | Automatic Company contributions equal to 3% of annual compensation |
| Other employer contribution | Employer contributions equal to 6% of annual compensation for certain employees who were participants in the Company's terminated Retirement Annuity Program, for a minimum of five years or to the end of the year in which they complete 30 years of service |
At a $90,000 salary, contributing 3% ($2,700) earns the full employer match of $2,700 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“In general, participants may receive up to 6% of their annual compensation, which is defined as base pay and bonus compensation, in Company contributions through: (1) Company matching contributions of 100% of the first 3% of participant compensation contributed to the Plan; and (2) Automatic Company contributions equal to 3% of annual compensation.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 25, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is LINCOLN ELECTRIC's 401(k) vesting schedule?
LINCOLN ELECTRIC 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 | In general, Company contributions are 100% vested when made; a small percentage of participants from acquired companies have different vesting provisions |
Vesting, word for word
“In addition, certain employees who were participants in the Company’s RAP receive employer contributions equal to 6% of annual compensation for a minimum of five years or to the end of the year in which they complete 30 years of service. In general, Company contributions are 100% vested when made. A small percentage of participants (from acquired companies) have different Company contribution and vesting provisions applicable to them, as described in the Plan.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 25, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join LINCOLN ELECTRIC's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
LINCOLN ELECTRIC enrolls new hires automatically at 4% of pay.
| Plan entry | Regular, full-time employees are eligible to make participant contributions immediately and all other eligible employees after completion of 1,000 hours in any year of service with the Company |
|---|---|
| Match eligibility | Employees are eligible for Company contributions following six months of regular, full-time employment or 1,000 hours in any year of service with the Company |
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 4% of pay |
Eligibility, word for word
“The Plan is a defined contribution plan covering certain employees of The Lincoln Electric Company and certain related entities (“the Company”), as defined by the Plan. The Plan provides that regular, full-time employees are eligible to make participant contributions immediately and all other eligible employees after completion of 1,000 hours in any year of service with the Company. Such employees will be eligible for Company contributions following six months of regular, full-time employment or 1,000 hours in any year of service with the Company. The Plan is subject to the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”).”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“Each year, participants may make pre-tax and after-tax Roth contributions to the Plan of 1% to 80% (in whole percentages) of their base pay and/or bonus pay up to the maximum amount as set by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") ($23,500 for 2025). Participants who are at least 50 years old by the end of the Plan year are allowed to make catch-up contributions for that year (up to an additional $7,500 for 2025), a higher catch-up contribution limit applies for participants aged 60 through 63 (up to an additional $11,250 for 2025). Participants are immediately vested in their contributions plus actual earnings thereon. Participants have the right to direct Fidelity Management Trust Company (“the Trustee”) to invest their contributions to the Plan in any of the investment funds available under the Plan in 1% increments or to invest contributions in a self-directed brokerage account. Eligible employees of The Lincoln Electric Company who become eligible participants in the Plan will be automatically enrolled in the Plan unless action is taken by the employee to elect not to contribute to the Plan. Participants enrolled under this approach will have 4% of their base salary contributed to the Plan.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 25, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who holds your account
Schedule C of the Form 5500 filed for plan year 2024 reports Fidelity Investments, filed as “FIDELITY INVESTMENTS INSTITUTIONAL”. That is the company paid to keep the account records: what is in an account, what went into it, and usually the site a participant signs in to. The trustee that holds the plan’s assets can be a different company, and this filing does not name it.
10,593 plans on file name Fidelity Investments as their recordkeeper. Of those, the 10,022 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $97.71 per participant.
Participants log in at Fidelity NetBenefits ↗. 401(k) Monitor is not affiliated with Fidelity Investments or with any other recordkeeper, and takes nothing for this link. It is here because that is where the account is.
| Recordkeeper | Fidelity Investments |
|---|---|
| Recordkeeper EIN | 042647786 |
What does the LINCOLN ELECTRIC plan report on Form 5500?
The LINCOLN ELECTRIC plan reported $1.1B in assets and 6,731 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $1,105,796,486 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 6,731 |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $35.28 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $35.28 per participant. The median across plans in industrial and materials manufacturing is $142.19, from the 5,709 of 6,008 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
How does LINCOLN ELECTRIC's 401(k) match compare?
LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC's maximum 401(k) match of 3% of pay compares with a median of 4% across the 269 companies in our data with a computable formula.
Employers worth reading next
Of the six employers below, three file in industrial and materials manufacturing, two report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 3% of pay. Also in industrial and materials manufacturing.
Maximum match 3% of pay. Also in industrial and materials manufacturing.
Maximum match 3% of pay. Also in industrial and materials manufacturing.
Maximum match 3% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Maximum match 3% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Vests immediately too, like LINCOLN ELECTRIC.
Compare LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC with any company, side by side
What can you do next?
- 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.
Questions this filing answers
What is LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC's 401(k) match?
Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. matches 100% of employee contributions up to 3% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 4% of pay.
Who is the recordkeeper for LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC's 401(k)?
Fidelity Investments is named as the recordkeeper on the Form 5500 filed for The Lincoln Electric Company Employee Savings Plan for plan year 2024. That is the company paid to keep the account records: what is in an account, what went into it, and usually the site a participant signs in to.
Source
The match formula, the vesting schedule and the enrollment rules on this page were read from one document: the Form 11-K annual report that LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the plan year ended December 31, 2025. Each of those fields carries the filing sentence it was read from, expandable where the field appears. Nothing on this page was supplied by the employer to this site.
The plan assets, the participant counts, the plan-paid fees and the recordkeeper come from a different document, the plan’s DOL Form 5500 annual return, and the section that reports them links it. Comparisons with other employers are computed across the filings named in the section they appear in.
Read the filing on SEC EDGAR ↗
| Document | Form 11-K annual report |
|---|---|
| Filed with | US Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) |
| Filed by | LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC |
| SEC CIK | 59527 |
| Accession number | 0000059527-26-000017 |
| Plan | The Lincoln Electric Company Employee Savings Plan |
| Period of report | December 31, 2025 |
| Filed | June 25, 2026 |
401(k) Monitor is not affiliated with LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC, with the Securities and Exchange Commission or with this plan’s recordkeeper, and publishes this page without their involvement. It republishes a public filing and says where it came from.
Cite this page
401(k) Monitor, “LINCOLN ELECTRIC HOLDINGS INC 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000059527-26-000017, plan year ended December 31, 2025.
