Whirlpool Corporation 401(k) match: 4% max
Whirlpool 401(k) Retirement Plan · WHR · CIK 106640
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
4%
Whirlpool 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 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 · what the plan reports to the DOL · how it compares · what to do next
What Whirlpool puts in, and what the plan costs
What Whirlpool put into the plan, per active participant
$4,618
Whirlpool Corporation put $4,618 into this plan for each of its 17,341 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.
Whirlpool put in more per active participant than 65% 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 335200, which Whirlpool 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 Whirlpool 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 381490038, plan 001 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $4,618 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. Whirlpool Corporation also files a Form 11-K, which states the match formula for plan year 2025: the card below reads $1,980 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 Whirlpool puts in
$1,980
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“The Plan’s provisions for the Employer’s discretionary matching contribution are to provide up to a 100% match of the first 3% of employee contributions and 50% of the next 2% of employee contributions. Employees are also eligible to receive an automatic contribution equal to 3% of the employee’s eligible compensation. Employer discretionary matching and automatic contributions and tax-deferred contributions are 100% vested at all times. Company contributions may be made in the form of cash or Whirlpool common stock. In 2025, the discretionary matching contributions and automatic contributions were made to the Plan in common stock only.”
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
“Employer discretionary matching and automatic contributions and tax-deferred contributions are 100% vested at all times.”
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
76th percentile
$86.96 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 76% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Whirlpool's 401(k) match formula?
Whirlpool's 401(k) employer match tops out at 4% of pay. 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 |
| Paid in company stock | Yes |
| Conditions | The matching contribution is discretionary; the plan provisions provide for up to the stated rates. |
| Other employer contribution | Automatic employer contribution equal to 3% of eligible compensation |
At a $45,000 salary, contributing 5% ($2,250) earns the full employer match of $1,800 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“The Plan’s provisions for the Employer’s discretionary matching contribution are to provide up to a 100% match of the first 3% of employee contributions and 50% of the next 2% of employee contributions. Employees are also eligible to receive an automatic contribution equal to 3% of the employee’s eligible compensation. Employer discretionary matching and automatic contributions and tax-deferred contributions are 100% vested at all times. Company contributions may be made in the form of cash or Whirlpool common stock. In 2025, the discretionary matching contributions and automatic contributions were made to the Plan in common stock only.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 25, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is Whirlpool's 401(k) vesting schedule?
Whirlpool 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 | Automatic contributions are 100% vested at all times |
Vesting, word for word
“Employer discretionary matching and automatic contributions and tax-deferred contributions are 100% vested at all times.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 25, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Whirlpool's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Whirlpool enrolls new hires automatically at 5% of pay, rising 1% a year to 15% of pay.
| Plan entry | Upon employment for U.S.-based full-time and part-time employees of Whirlpool and certain affiliates |
|---|---|
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 5% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 15% |
Eligibility, word for word
“U.S.-based full-time and part-time employees of Whirlpool and certain affiliates are eligible to participate in the Plan upon employment. Participation in the Plan is voluntary.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“New employees are automatically enrolled in the Plan at 5% unless they affirmatively opt out of the Plan or make a different deferral election. Employees who are not participating, or are participating at less than 5%, are automatically re-enrolled in the Plan on an annual basis at 5%, unless they affirmatively opt out of re-enrollment or make a different deferral election. If a participant has been automatically enrolled or affirmatively elects to defer a portion of eligible earnings less than 15%, the participant’s deferral percentage will automatically be increased by 1% each January 1 until reaching 15%, unless the participant opts out of such increases.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 25, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
What does the Whirlpool plan report on Form 5500?
The Whirlpool plan reported $3.5B in assets and 27,487 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 | Whirlpool 401(k) Retirement Plan |
|---|---|
| Total plan assets | $3,452,502,444 |
| Participants | 27,487 |
| Recordkeeper | Vanguard |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $86.96 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $86.96 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.
The plan reports Vanguard as its recordkeeper, one of 2,337 plans it runs in the data we publish. Of those, the 2,333 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $97.87 per participant.
Whirlpool 401(k) Retirement Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials
How does Whirlpool's 401(k) match compare?
Whirlpool Corporation's maximum 401(k) match of 4% 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 industrial and materials manufacturing, two report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also in industrial and materials manufacturing.
Maximum match 4.5% of pay. Also in industrial and materials manufacturing.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also in industrial and materials manufacturing.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Vanguard.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Vanguard.
Maximum match 4.5% of pay. Vests immediately too, like Whirlpool.
Compare Whirlpool Corporation with any company, side by side
What can you do next?
Check your own balance and contribution rate at Vanguard ↗, the recordkeeper this plan reports.
- 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.
- Download this data (CSV)
Formula, vesting and source references for this company, one file.
Questions this filing answers
What is Whirlpool Corporation's 401(k) match?
Whirlpool 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, 2025).
When does the Whirlpool Corporation 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does Whirlpool Corporation's 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 5% of pay; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 15%.
Cite: 401(k) Monitor, “Whirlpool Corporation 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000106640-26-000048, plan year ended 2025-12-31.