The Marcus Corporation 401(k): Principal, match 4% max
The Marcus Corp 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan · MCS · CIK 62234
Principal 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
4%
The Marcus Corporation matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 3% of pay, then 50% of the next 2% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 4% of pay.
From the Form 11-K filed June 20, 2025 ↗, covering the plan year ended December 31, 2024. 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 Marcus puts in, and what the plan costs
What Marcus put into the plan, per active participant
$576
The Marcus Corporation put $576 into this plan for each of its 4,961 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.
Marcus put in more per active participant than 75% of plans with 5,000+ participants at hotels and restaurants. The middle plan in that group of 89 reported $323. Hotels and restaurants comes from business code 721110, which Marcus 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 Marcus 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 391139844, plan 002 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $576 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. The Marcus Corporation also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2024: the card below reads $1,980 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 measure different things, so neither one is the other one corrected.
What Marcus puts in
$1,980
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“Beginning on January 1, 2017, the Company began making “safe harbor” matching contributions. The “safe harbor” matching contribution is equal to 100% of the participant’s elective deferral (pre-tax and Roth deferrals) up to 3% of their eligible compensation; plus 50% of that participant’s elective deferrals between 3% and 5% of their eligible compensation subject to the “safe harbor” matching contribution limit, which was $14 in 2024.”
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 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
“Employee contributions and the Company’s “safe harbor” matching contributions and earnings thereon are immediately 100% vested. All pre-2017 discretionary Company contributions and earnings thereon cumulative vest 20% after two years, 40% after three years, 60% after four years, 80% after five years and 100% after six years. Notwithstanding the above, a participant is fully vested upon reaching normal retirement age, death, or permanent disability.”
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
23rd percentile
$29.03 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, cheaper than 78% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Marcus' 401(k) match formula?
Marcus' 401(k) employer match tops out at 4% 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 3% of pay |
|---|---|
| then | 50% of the next 2% of pay |
| Maximum employer match | 4% of compensation |
| Deposited | Each payroll |
| Paid in company stock | No, paid in cash or per your investment elections |
At a $75,000 salary, contributing 5% ($3,750) earns the full employer match of $3,000 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“Beginning on January 1, 2017, the Company began making “safe harbor” matching contributions. The “safe harbor” matching contribution is equal to 100% of the participant’s elective deferral (pre-tax and Roth deferrals) up to 3% of their eligible compensation; plus 50% of that participant’s elective deferrals between 3% and 5% of their eligible compensation subject to the “safe harbor” matching contribution limit, which was $14 in 2024.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 20, 2025, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What is Marcus' 401(k) vesting schedule?
Marcus 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 |
| Accelerated vesting | a participant is fully vested upon reaching normal retirement age, death, or permanent disability |
| Other employer contributions | All pre-2017 discretionary Company contributions and earnings thereon cumulative vest 20% after two years, 40% after three years, 60% after four years, 80% after five years and 100% after six years. |
Vesting, word for word
“Employee contributions and the Company’s “safe harbor” matching contributions and earnings thereon are immediately 100% vested. All pre-2017 discretionary Company contributions and earnings thereon cumulative vest 20% after two years, 40% after three years, 60% after four years, 80% after five years and 100% after six years. Notwithstanding the above, a participant is fully vested upon reaching normal retirement age, death, or permanent disability.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 20, 2025, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Marcus' 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Marcus' filing does not mention automatic enrollment, which is not the same as the plan having none.
| Plan entry | Employees of the Company are eligible to participate in the deferral components of the Plan on the later of one month of service or reaching 21 years of age. |
|---|---|
| Match eligibility | Employees are eligible to participate in the safe harbor match component of the Plan if they meet the eligibility requirements above. |
| Automatic enrollment | Not mentioned in the filing (not proof of absence) |
Eligibility, word for word
“Employees of the Company are eligible to participate in the deferral components of the Plan on the later of one month of service or reaching 21 years of age. Employees are eligible to participate in the safe harbor match component of the Plan if they meet the eligibility requirements above.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 20, 2025, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who holds your account
Schedule C of the Form 5500 filed for plan year 2024 reports Principal, filed as “PRINCIPAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY”. 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.
5,239 plans on file name Principal as their recordkeeper. Of those, the 5,230 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $170.05 per participant.
Participants log in at Principal ↗. 401(k) Monitor is not affiliated with Principal or with any other recordkeeper, and takes nothing for this link. It is here because that is where the account is.
| Recordkeeper | Principal |
|---|---|
| Recordkeeper EIN | 420127290 |
What does the Marcus plan report on Form 5500?
The Marcus plan reported $108.7M in assets and 5,403 participants for plan year 2024.
| Total plan assets | $108,731,265 |
|---|---|
| Participants | 5,403 |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $29.03 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $29.03 per participant. The median across plans at hotels and restaurants is $54.65, from the 1,246 of 1,305 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
How does Marcus' 401(k) match compare?
The Marcus Corporation's maximum 401(k) match of 4% 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 at hotels and restaurants, two report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also at hotels and restaurants.
Maximum match 6% of pay. Also at hotels and restaurants.
Maximum match 2.8% of pay. Also at hotels and restaurants.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Principal.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Principal.
Maximum match 7.02% of pay. Vests immediately too, like Marcus.
Compare The Marcus Corporation with any company, side by side
What can you do next?
- Read the Form 11-K on SEC EDGAR ↗
Form 11-K filed June 20, 2025, 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 The Marcus Corporation's 401(k) match?
The Marcus Corporation matches 100% (dollar-for-dollar) of the first 3% of pay, then 50% of the next 2% of pay, for a maximum employer match of 4% of compensation (plan year ended December 31, 2024).
When does the The Marcus Corporation 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does The Marcus Corporation's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Not mentioned in the filing (not proof of absence).
Who is the recordkeeper for The Marcus Corporation's 401(k)?
Principal is named as the recordkeeper on the Form 5500 filed for The Marcus Corp 401(k) Retirement 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 The Marcus Corporation filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the plan year ended December 31, 2024. 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 | The Marcus Corporation |
| SEC CIK | 62234 |
| Accession number | 0000062234-25-000031 |
| Plan | The Marcus Corp 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan |
| Period of report | December 31, 2024 |
| Filed | June 20, 2025 |
401(k) Monitor is not affiliated with The Marcus Corporation, 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, “The Marcus Corporation 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000062234-25-000031, plan year ended December 31, 2024.
