Xcel Energy Inc. 401(k): Vanguard, match 4% max
Xcel Energy 401(k) Savings Plan · XEL · CIK 72903
Vanguard 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.
Matched to this employer by sponsor name, not by an identifier stated in the filing.
Maximum employer match, as a share of pay
4%
Xcel Energy Inc. matches 50% of the first 8% of pay.
Xcel Energy filed three Form 11-K reports for plan year 2025, of which one has been read. The other two reports have not, so this page cannot say what the plans they cover 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 Xcel Energy puts in, and what the plan costs
What Xcel Energy put into the plan, per active participant
$3,646
Xcel Energy Inc. put $3,646 into this plan for each of its 9,075 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.
Xcel Energy put in less per active participant than 92% of plans with 5,000+ participants at utilities. The middle plan in that group of 39 reported $5,837. Utilities comes from business code 221500, which Xcel Energy 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 Xcel Energy 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 410448030, plan 003 · DOL EFAST2 ↗
The $3,646 above is the Form 5500 figure for plan year 2024, and it counts every employer dollar on one line. Xcel Energy Inc. 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. 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 Xcel Energy puts in
$1,980
a year, at a $49,500 salary.
The match paragraph, word for word
“Non-bargaining and bargaining employees covered under the Pension Equity, Account Balance or Cash Balance pension plan formulas are eligible to receive a matching contribution equal to 50% of the first 8% of base pay contributed on a pre-tax and/or Roth 401(k) after-tax basis during the Plan year. Beginning in 2025, all non-bargaining participants who contributed to the Plan in 2025 are eligible for the per paycheck matching contributions. Bargaining participants who contributed to the Plan in 2025 are eligible for the annual matching contributions which were paid in February 2026. Bargaining employees participating in this Plan must be an active employee on the last day of the Plan year or separated from employment due to retirement, disability or death to be eligible for the annual matching contribution.”
What you contribute to collect all of it
Contribute at least 8% of your pay to collect the full match.
That is $3,960 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, matching contributions made by Xcel Energy and earnings are immediately vested.”
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
92nd percentile
$131.35 per participant in plan-paid administrative cost, more expensive than 92% of plans with 5,000+ participants.
What is Xcel Energy's 401(k) match formula?
Xcel Energy's 401(k) employer match tops out at 4% of pay. One rate up to one limit is the commonest of the four shapes a match formula takes.
| Match formula | 50% of the first 8% of pay |
|---|---|
| Maximum employer match | 4% of compensation |
| Paid in company stock | No, paid in cash or per your investment elections |
| Conditions | Match applies to employees covered under the Pension Equity, Account Balance or Cash Balance formulas of the Xcel Energy Pension Plan and is computed on base pay. Beginning in 2025 non-bargaining participants receive per-paycheck matching; bargaining participants receive an annual match (paid February 2026) and must be active on the last day of the plan year or separated due to retirement, disability or death. |
At a $90,000 salary, contributing 8% ($7,200) earns the full employer match of $3,600 for the year.
What the filing says, word for word
“Non-bargaining and bargaining employees covered under the Pension Equity, Account Balance or Cash Balance pension plan formulas are eligible to receive a matching contribution equal to 50% of the first 8% of base pay contributed on a pre-tax and/or Roth 401(k) after-tax basis during the Plan year. Beginning in 2025, all non-bargaining participants who contributed to the Plan in 2025 are eligible for the per paycheck matching contributions. Bargaining participants who contributed to the Plan in 2025 are eligible for the annual matching contributions which were paid in February 2026. Bargaining employees participating in this Plan must be an active employee on the last day of the Plan year or separated from employment due to retirement, disability or death to be eligible for the annual matching contribution.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 25, 2026, SEC EDGAR, corroborated by the filing's inline-XBRL facts · SEC ↗
What is Xcel Energy's 401(k) vesting schedule?
Xcel Energy 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 |
Vesting, word for word
“Employee contributions, matching contributions made by Xcel Energy and earnings are immediately vested.”
Source: Form 11-K filed June 25, 2026, SEC EDGAR · SEC ↗
Who can join Xcel Energy's 401(k), and is enrollment automatic?
Xcel Energy enrolls new hires automatically at 4% of pay, rising 1% a year to 10% of pay.
| Plan entry | First day of employment for all full-time, part-time and temporary employees |
|---|---|
| Excluded groups | Bargaining unit employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement that does not provide for participation in the Plan |
| Automatic enrollment | Yes: default deferral 4% of pay; 30-day opt-out window; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 10%; default investment: Age-appropriate target-date trust |
Eligibility, word for word
“All full-time, part-time and temporary employees of Xcel Energy (with the exception of bargaining unit employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement that does not provide for participation in this Plan) are eligible to participate in the Plan as of their first day of employment.”
Automatic enrollment, word for word
“The Plan automatically enrolls newly hired/rehired full-time and part-time non-bargaining and bargaining employees as well as certain Nuclear Operations bargaining employees. Eligible employees who do not make an affirmative election or do not waive Plan participation within 30 days from date of hire are automatically enrolled at an initial percentage of pay (4% pre-tax in 2025), contribution rates are automatically increased each year by 1% (capped at 10%), and their accounts are automatically invested in an age-appropriate target-date trust.”
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 Vanguard, filed as “THE VANGUARD GROUP, INC.”. 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.
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.
2,337 plans on file name Vanguard as their recordkeeper. Of those, the 2,333 with a computable fee have a median plan-paid cost of $97.87 per participant.
Participants log in at Vanguard ↗. 401(k) Monitor is not affiliated with Vanguard or with any other recordkeeper, and takes nothing for this link. It is here because that is where the account is.
| Recordkeeper | Vanguard |
|---|---|
| Recordkeeper EIN | 231945930 |
What does the Xcel Energy plan report on Form 5500?
The Xcel Energy plan reported $3.1B in assets and 14,043 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 | Xcel Energy 401(k) Savings Plan |
|---|---|
| Total plan assets | $3,093,091,164 |
| Participants | 14,043 |
| Plan-paid admin cost per participant | $131.35 |
How that cost compares
This plan pays $131.35 per participant. The median across plans at utilities is $138.21, from the 387 of 407 whose Form 5500 yields a per-participant cost.
Xcel Energy 401(k) Savings Plan on its Form 5500 filing: fees, providers and financials
How does Xcel Energy's 401(k) match compare?
Xcel Energy Inc.'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 utilities, two report the same recordkeeper and one vests on the same schedule.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also at utilities.
Maximum match 4.2% of pay. Also at utilities.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Also at utilities.
Maximum match 4% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Vanguard.
Maximum match 5% of pay. Same recordkeeper, Vanguard.
Maximum match 2% of pay. Vests immediately too, like Xcel Energy.
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 Xcel Energy Inc.'s 401(k) match?
Xcel Energy Inc. matches 50% of employee contributions up to 8% of eligible pay (plan year ended December 31, 2025).
When does the Xcel Energy Inc. 401(k) match vest?
Immediate: employer match is 100% vested when contributed.
Does Xcel Energy Inc.'s 401(k) plan have automatic enrollment?
Yes: default deferral 4% of pay; 30-day opt-out window; auto-escalation +1%/yr to 10%; default investment: Age-appropriate target-date trust.
Who is the recordkeeper for Xcel Energy Inc.'s 401(k)?
Vanguard is named as the recordkeeper on the Form 5500 filed for Xcel Energy 401(k) 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. 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.
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 Xcel Energy 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 | Xcel Energy Inc. |
| SEC CIK | 72903 |
| Accession number | 0000072903-26-000123 |
| Plan | Xcel Energy 401(k) Savings Plan |
| Period of report | December 31, 2025 |
| Filed | June 25, 2026 |
401(k) Monitor is not affiliated with Xcel Energy 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, “Xcel Energy Inc. 401(k) plan facts”, from SEC Form 11-K accession 0000072903-26-000123, plan year ended December 31, 2025.
