401(k) retirement plans that meet your business needs

ADP delivers benefits across your business with easy administration and interactive resources to keep employees engaged.

See how ADP® can help you create a retirement plan that is smart and easy for your business. We have no investment bias.

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ADP Retirement Services: Product Capabilities

The ideal 401(k) for every business

ADP provides different 401k programs that readily meet the unique needs of your business and allow employees to contribute wages to their retirement account. Our solutions are flexible to meet the needs of your organization – whether you have 1 employee or thousands of employees.

Suggested for 1-9 Employees

Starter-k Complete

The smart, streamlined retirement option for small businesses. Affordable and easy to use, ADP Starter-k Complete streamlines the 401(k) experience for you and your employees.

  • Automatic enrollment
  • Lower contribution limits
  • Simplified administrative services
  • Roth contributions

Suggested for 1-49 employees

ADP 401k Essential

Low cost, feature-rich 401k retirement planning solutions for small businesses

  • Affordable
  • Streamlined, worry-free plan administration
  • Real-time payroll integration with ADP Smartsync®
  • 3(16) administrative fiduciary services and 3(38) investment management services
  • Engaging financial wellness tools and automatic enrollment
  • Award-winning ADP Mobile App
Learn more about our ADP 401k Essential

Suggested for 50-99 employees

ADP 401k Enhanced

Flexible retirement benefits that keep employees engaged

  • Flexible plan design and investment choice – with no proprietary funds
  • Radically simplified compliance process saves time and minimizes risk
  • Consultative support from a highly knowledgeable service team
  • Access to Third-Party Administrators (TPAs) and 3(16) administrative fiduciary services
  • 3(21) and 3(38) investment management services available
  • Personalized insights through ADP’s advanced technology and unparalleled employee data

Suggested for 100+ employees

ADP 401k Premier

A dedicated and seasoned service team that supports your unique plan needs

  • Effectively manage plan administration with the help of a dedicated client service manager
  • Insightful direction and guidance on your plan from a personal relationship manager
  • Support for mergers, acquisitions and spin-offs with an ERISA consultant who stays informed about changing legislation and regulations
  • Drive participation with plan-specific communication program for employees through your dedicated retirement communication manager
  • Increase retirement knowledge and financial wellness through educational webcasts, targeted microsites and video content
  • Seamlessly integrated HCM platform
  • Specialized plan support available for private equity firms and profit-sharing only plans

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SECURE 2.0 Act Tax Credit Calculator

Discover your potential savings with SECURE 2.0

Offering a 401(k) plan is more affordable for small businesses than ever, thanks to new tax credits introduced by the SECURE 2.0 Act.

Will you be offering an employer contribution (match or profit sharing) over the next 5 years?

 

You could be eligible for an estimated

 

in tax credits over the plan's first 5 years!

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SECURE Act Calculator
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ADP Mobile App

Learn how the ADP Mobile App helps employees unlock the full potential of their retirement savings plan.

ADP is a 401k provider transforming the way people save for retirement

Every employee’s vision for retirement is different. Each will have questions to answer and decisions to make. At ADP we provide resources to help them get started and take control of their 401k planning.

From financial education to useful tools like the MyADP Retirement Snapshot®1, we help participants understand how to think about the future and design a path to get there.

We make enrollment easy and provide a dashboard that gives each participant a clear view of their retirement 401k plan. Add targeted messaging that provides important information and employees find themselves both more connected to their plan and able to see the benefits of having it.

A wide array of unbiased 401k retirement planning investment choices

Making the best possible investment decisions for your retirement 401k plan is critical to its success. Whether your advisor is providing investment advisory services or you are considering hiring a third party for this support, ADP offers two distinct options for selecting investments:

  • Our open-fund architecture provides access to over 13,000 nonproprietary investment options from 300+ investment managers. You and your advisor can compare and evaluate funds to find the right candidates for consideration.
  • Our screened investment tiers put simplicity at the forefront by offering fund tiers that have been evaluated and are organized based on ADP’s underwriting criteria.2

In both options, as an independent record keeper, ADP is able to provide retirement 401k plan investment options without any bias or agenda.

A separate, indirect subsidiary of ADP, Inc., ADP Strategic Plan Services, LLC provides fiduciary investment management services. including the analysis, selection, monitoring, and if necessary, replacement of investment options on behalf of employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Control risk and reduce your fiduciary burden

Today, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, part of ERISA, is actively overseeing, and ensuring the integrity of, the private employee retirement system in the U.S. Sponsoring a retirement 401k plan makes your company responsible for the investment selection and monitoring associated with your plan. That’s often more than most small or midsized companies want to take on. ADP can help you reduce this “investment fiduciary burden.”

  • For retirement 401k plans working with an advisor, Mesirow Financial offers co-fiduciary or investment manager services, depending on the support needed.3
  • For retirement 401k plans not working with an advisor, ADP's affiliate, ADP Strategic Plan Services, LLC, is available.4

Flexible plan designs that are easy to set up

Whether you are looking to establish a new retirement 401k plan or move your plan to ADP, we can help you design 401k planning that meets the needs of your workforce and answers questions like:

  • At what age should my employees be eligible to participate in the plan?
  • How long should employees work for me before qualifying to join the plan?
  • Should my employees have access to a third-party online investment advisory service?
  • Is a Safe Harbor retirement 401k plan a good choice for my company?
  • Should the plan offer employees a Roth 401(k) option?
  • Would my employees benefit from automatic enrollment to a retirement 401k plan?

And when it comes to implementation, we make it easy, with a specialized ADP manager to help ensure the process runs smoothly.

ADP® Retirement Services Implementation

See how as a plan administrator you’ll have access to smart, flexible technology and tools, as well as an experienced, responsive team.

Seamless payroll integration with SMARTSync®

For companies using ADP payroll and HR solutions like RUN Powered by ADP® and ADP Workforce Now®, SMARTSync is an efficient way to connect ADP’s payroll and retirement 401(k) plan record-keeping systems. In a recent survey, ADP customers reported real benefits:

  • 86% saw time savings5 by greatly reducing manual data entry requirements
  • A majority claimed reduced compliance concerns6 due to preset programming that manages tasks and checks for errors

ADP was named best business employee retirement plan for the 3rd consecutive year! BEST FOR SMALL BUSINESS 2024 by Business.com*

Business.com Best Employee Retirement Plan

401(k) FAQs

What is a retirement 401(k) plan, and how does it work?

A retirement 401(k) plan allows employees to contribute a portion of their wages to individual retirement accounts. This portion of their wages can be excluded from the employee's taxable income (except for with Roth accounts). Employers can match contributions to employees' accounts to incentivize saving.

What are the different types of retirement 401(k) plans?

There are several types of retirement 401(k) plans available to employers - traditional 401(k) plans, roth 401(k), safe harbor 401(k) plans, solo (k) and SIMPLE 401(k) plans. Different rules apply to each.

Are employers required to offer a retirement 401(k) plan to employees?

Employers generally are not required to offer their employees retirement benefits. However, some states have government-sponsored retirement plans with mandatory participation. In these jurisdictions, eligible employers must enroll their employees in the state program or provide retirement benefits on their own.

Are all employees eligible for a retirement 401(k) plan?

Eligibility is set by the plan sponsor and may vary depending on factors like tenure, age, and employment status to determine who can participate a company’s retirement 401(k) plan.

What are the benefits of offering employees a retirement 401(k) plan?

Offering retirement 401(k) plans benefits employees with automated deposits, potential employer matches, and tax savings. Employers benefit by attracting talent, boosting employee satisfaction, possibly qualifying for tax incentives for their business, and showing commitment to employee financial wellness.

What are the responsibilities of a retirement 401k plan administrator?

Retirement 401(k) plan administrators are responsible for the day-to-day operations and administrative tasks to ensure that retirement plans are compliant with regulations and help everyone on the plan enroll and save for retirement. They work with legal documents, analyze, test, and monitor the plan's operation.

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*Business.com article "Best Business Employee Retirement Plans for 2024" Published May 2, 2024

† This calculator is for illustration purposes only and should not be construed as tax advice. Please consult with your own tax professional for advice.

Monthly Investment Service Fee: ADP Strategic Plan Services, LLC will impose a fee of .10% of covered assets, subject to a minimum fee of $30 per month, as more further described below.

The amount of the tax credit each year is limited. Employers with up to 100 employees may be entitled to an annual tax credit for three years equal to 50% of the costs of starting up and administering a retirement plan and for participant education services. Employers with 50 employees or fewer may be entitled to 100% of the costs for these services. The maximum credit is up to the greater of (1) $500 or (2) the lesser of (1) $5,000 or (2) $250 multiplied by the number of non-highly compensated employees eligible to participate in the plan. An additional credit of $500 per year for the first three years is available to plans that offer an automatic enrollment feature that meets the requirements of an Eligible Automatic Contribution Arrangement (EACA) as defined in Internal Revenue Code Section 414(w)(3.) The maximum credit over 3 years of $16,500 is available to plans that cover at least 20 non-highly compensated employees and offer automatic enrollment.

Additionally, an annual tax credit for eligible employer contributions for five years of up to $1,000 per employee earning $100,000 or less may apply to employers with up to 50 employees but phases out from 51 to 100 employees.

The availability and amount of a tax credit depends on your situation. ADP does not provide tax advice, and you should consult with your own tax professional.

  1. IMPORTANT: MyADP Retirement Snapshot® makes no assumptions about your tax status or savings and should not be used as the basis for any planning decisions. The likelihood of various savings outcomes are hypothetical, do not reflect actual investment results or market fluctuations and are not guarantees of future results. Results may vary potential savings scenarios, with each use and over time.
  2. EBSA Fact Sheet 10/14/2020
  3. Fiduciary services are provided through Mesirow Financial Investment Management, Inc., (“MFIM”) an SEC-registered investment advisor. Mesirow Financial is not affiliated with ADP, Inc. or its affiliates. Mesirow Financial refers to Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc. and its divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates. The Mesirow Financial name and logo are registered service marks of Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc. Advisory Fees are described in MFIM Form ADV Part 2 Mesirow Financial does not provide legal or tax advice. The specific instances in which a party may be entitled to indemnity are set forth in detail in the agreement between the plan sponsor and Mesirow Financial, and nothing herein is intended to modify that agreement.
  4. Investment advisory and management services provided through ADP Strategic Plan Services, LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor (SPS). Registration does not imply any level of skill or training. SPS affiliates may also receive fees paid by manufacturers or distributors of the investment options included in this product in connection to other professional services provided by the applicable SPS affiliate. The advice provided by SPS is in no way related or contingent upon the payment received for these other services. SPS and its affiliates do not offer investment, tax or legal advice to individuals. SPS is not acting and does not purport to act in any way as an advisor or in a fiduciary capacity vis-a-vis any plan beneficiaries. It is strongly suggested that any prospective client obtain independent advice in relation to any investment, financial, legal, tax, accounting or regulatory issues discussed herein. Analyses and opinions contained herein may be based on assumptions that if altered can change the analyses or opinions expressed. Nothing contained herein shall constitute any representation or warranty as to future performance of any financial instrument or other market or economic measure.
  5. Service Integration Analysis - Small Market; Retirement Insights, LLC, February 2018.
  6. Ibid

Unless otherwise disclosed or agreed to in writing with a client, ADP, Inc. and its affiliates (ADP) do not endorse or recommend specific investment companies or products, financial advisors or service providers; engage or compensate any financial advisor or firm for the provision of advice; offer financial, investment, tax or legal advice or management services; or serve in a fiduciary capacity with respect to retirement plans. Investment options are available through the applicable entity(ies) for each retirement product.

Investment options in the “ADP Direct Products” are available through either ADP Broker-Dealer, Inc. (ADP BD), Member FINRA, an affiliate of ADP, Inc., One ADP Blvd, Roseland, NJ or (in the case of certain investments) ADP, Inc. Only licensed representatives of ADP BD or, in the case of certain products, of a broker-dealer firm that has executed a marketing agreement with ADP, Inc. may offer and sell ADP retirement products or speak to retirement plan features and/or investment options available in any ADP retirement product and only associated persons of ADP Strategic Plan Services, LLC (SPS) may speak to any investment management or advisory services provided by SPS or any third party in connection with such ADP retirement products. SPS is a SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or services. Nothing in these materials is intended to be, nor should be construed as, advice or a recommendation for a particular situation or plan. Registered representatives of ADP Broker-Dealer, Inc. do not offer investment, tax or legal advice to individuals. Please consult with your own advisors for such advice. ADPRS-20230629-4643