A better way to 401(k)
Professionally managed investment portfolios are designed to be diversified and low cost. Their estimated total cost can be under 0.22%4—that’s up to 7x less than the industry average.
Low cost, low fees
Affordable prices for growing businesses. Guideline’s
account fees for participants start at 0.15%.1
A breeze to manage
Set up a little as 20 minutes. Save time with employee
self-enrollment and intuitive dashboards.
All-in-one experience
From serving as your fiduciary to ongoing compliance testing2,
Guideline offers end-to-end management of your 401(k).3
Help employees save more
Active employees are charged an annual account fee starting at 0.15%1 with no transaction fees.
$0
rollover fee
$0
loan fee
$0
distribution fee
$0
plan termination fee
$0
5500 prep fee
401(k) Pricing Plans
Get a 401(k) that works for you and your employees
Estimate your 401(k) plan costs with our calculator
Your company could be eligible to receive up to $16,500 in tax credits over the plan’s first three years to help offset initial plan costs.
Starter
$39/month
+ $4/mo per active participant
A simplified 401(k) with limited
features and easy administration.
- $6,000 employee
contribution limit - No employer contributions
- Must connect with an eligible
payroll provider
Core
$89/month
+ $8/mo per active participant
A foundational 401(k) with
robust features and more plan
design options.
- $22,500 employee
contribution limit - Safe Harbor or Traditional 401(k)
- Features like employer
contributions and profit sharing - Can connect with any
payroll provider
Enterprise
$149/month
+ active participant fee
Our most custom 401(k) with
exclusive pricing options and
premium support.
- $22,500 employee
contribution limit - Exclusive pricing options
Premium support for plan admin and employees - Access to Participant Perks
- Support for 401(k) plan transfers and employees
What's Included
401(k) plans include the fundamental services needed to offer a great benefit, including:
- Payroll integrations with popular payroll providers like Gusto, Quickbooks, and Rippling
- Automated plan admin, including recordkeeping, custodial services,2 compliance testing,1 and guided employee onboarding
- 3(38) and 3(16) fiduciary services, including filing IRS and DOL reports and signing your 5500.5
- Mobile app, which makes it easy for participants to set up and manage their account.
6 Guideline uses a third-party to provide custodial services. Custodial fees are paid by Guideline.
7 Guideline's 3(16) fiduciary services are only available to clients who utilize an eligible payroll provider.
Connect with your favorite payroll provider
Go-live Timeline
The average time for setting up a Guideline 401(k) is 40 days. This is mostly due to the mandatory 30 day waiting period enforced on plans with automatic enrollment.
Step 1
Design and set up the plan
Step 2
Employee's invited
Step 3
30 day waiting period for automatic enrollment
Step 4
Plan start date
Step 5
Process payroll
Step 6
First payday with contributions
FAQs
What is the 401(k) tax credit?
Companies within the first three years of offering retirement benefits to employees may be eligible to claim these tax credits. In addition companies must have had 100 or fewer employees who received $5,000 in compensation or more in the year before retirement benefits were offered.
For additional details on eligibility, review the guidelines provided by the IRS. IRS guidelines
How do I claim the 401(k) tax credit?
IRS Form 8881 should be provided to your tax preparer for them to include in the filing of your business’s income tax return. Additional changes to your business’s income tax return may be required as a result of form 8881. For a step by step on filing this tax credit, review the instructions provided by the IRS. IRS instructions
How much can I benefit from the 401(k) tax credit?
The amount of the tax credit varies by employer. It is a portion of the costs incurred from offering a retirement benefit to employees up to $5,000 per company for plan costs, an additional $500 credit for plans including an auto-enrollment feature (which all Guideline plans include), and the potential for additional credits for companies who contribute to employees’ plans (including matching contributions).
How do I receive the money for the 401(k) tax credit?
The 401(k) tax credit is used to reduce the amount you pay in taxes for a given year. This credit will not result in a cash refund for a current tax year.
If you do not owe any income tax this year then you can still benefit by either carrying back your credit one year or carrying over your credit amount to future years, for a maximum of 20 years. For example, if you do not owe taxes this year but then owe taxes next year you can put the unused amount towards reducing next year’s income tax.
How does this credit affect my deductions?
Any costs claimed through the 401(k) tax credit, including plan administration costs and additional education expenses, may not also be deducted as business expenses. If you are claiming this credit, ensure that any claimed expenses are excluded from your deductions.
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See our Form ADV 2A Brochure for more information about our fees.
All plans of related entities must be administered by Guideline in order to provide compliance testing.
Guideline uses a third-party to provide custodial services. Custodial fees are paid by Guideline.
This information is for illustrative purposes only, and is not intended to be construed as investment or tax advice or as an
assurance or guarantee of future performance. Investing involves risk, and investments may lose value. An assumed annual
account fee of 0.15% on assets under management (calculated and deducted on a monthly basis at 1/12 of the annual stated
rate based on the month-end account balance) and does not account for common factors that affect the value of your account
balance over time such as gains, losses, distributions, additional contributions, etc. The fee presented does not include other
fees that a 401(k) participant may incur, including, but not limited to, fees charged by the mutual funds or the monthly
maintenance fee to participants who end employment. Alternative account fee pricing is available, ranging from .15% to 0.35%.
Contact Sales at hello@guideline.com to learn more about exclusive pricing options available in Enterprise tier.
The average investment expense of plan assets for 401(k) plans with 25 participants and $250,000 in assets is 1.60% of assets,
according to the 23rd Edition of the 401k Averages Book. Data is updated through September 30, 2022, and is inclusive of
investment management fees, fund expense ratios, 12b-1 fees, sub-transfer agent fees, contract charges, wrap and advisor fees
or any other asset based charges. Guideline’s managed portfolios have blended expense ratios ranging from 0.064% to 0.067%
of assets under management. When combined with an assumed account fee of 0.15%, the estimated total AUM fees for one of
Guideline’s managed portfolios can be under 0.22%. Expense ratios for custom