Open a 401(k) today and we’ll waive your employer fees for the first 3 months.
Open a 401(k) today and we’ll waive your employer fees for the first 3 months.
No employer fee for 3 months.
Grow your business with us
With Guideline, you get the tools and tech needed to offer an affordable, automated 401(k).
Our platform can make retirement planning and plan admin easier, faster and more secure.
0.08% / year
That’s about 67¢ a month for every $10,000 saved
Your employees will get access to educational webinars, live support and more.
Recordkeeping
We’ll track your 401(k) plan’s balances, transactions, and deferrals.
Government filing
We prepare standard annual reports, including Form 5500 and 1099-R.
3(38) fiduciary - investment management
We are responsible for managing the investment portfolio, and selecting and monitoring funds.
3(16) fiduciary - plan administration
We take on the responsibility of handling reporting and disclosures to both participants and the IRS. Our 3(16) fiduciary services are only available to clients who utilize an eligible payroll provider.
Custodial services
Through our third party partner, we’ll process transactions, execute trades, safeguard plan assets and more.
Compliance testing
We help identify potential issues and manage required corrections.
Safe Harbor plan design
Guideline offers traditional and QACA Safe Harbor 401(k) plans. Safe Harbor plans automatically satisfy most IRS nondiscrimination testing if certain requirements are met. Learn more
Traditional plan design
Plan design with no IRS requirements around employer contributions or vesting schedules.
Vesting schedules
Set a schedule for employer contributions to become vested in participants’ 401(k) accounts.
Same dollar profit sharing
Profit sharing method where every employee receives the same contribution amount.
Pro rata profit sharing
This approach allocates the profit share based on employees’ relative salaries.
New comparability profit sharing
Allows employers to optimize contributions to certain groups of employees over others. Learn more
Dedicated onboarding specialist
One point of contact to help you set up your Guideline plan and answer questions about the onboarding process.
Dedicated client relationship manager
Once onboarded, your dedicated client relationship manager will assist with any 401(k) related questions.
If you’re starting a new 401(k), your small business may be eligible to receive up to $16,500 in tax credits over the plan’s first three years to help offset initial plan costs.
With a 401(k), participants can generally contribute up to $20,500 a year. With Guideline, they get even more savings.
We don’t charge fees for one-off transactions like rollovers, loans, distributions or plan wind-downs.
The total fees for our managed portfolios are about 10x less than the industry average. Learn more
1
The first decision is whether you want a Traditional 401(k) or Safe Harbor plan.
2
Customize your plan with features like employer matching, eligibility requirements, and more.
3
You can get a plan up and running in about 40 days.
There is no minimum number of employees required when setting up a 401(k) with Guideline. You can set up a 401(k) with just an owner or for a single employee.
Yes, Guideline works with many different types of businesses and entity structures such as LLCs.
401(k) plans are popular because they offer a lot of flexibility in plan design options, integrate with payroll systems, and work as a great hiring tool.
While setting up a Guideline 401(k) only takes about 20 minutes, it generally takes about 40 days until first contributions are made. This is due to the automatic enrollment feature on all Guideline 401(k) plans. Generally, eligible employees cannot be automatically enrolled in your plan until 30 days after they receive notice of the auto-enroll feature. This gives them sufficient time to opt-out before the plan begins.
Auto enrollment is a required feature for all Guideline 401(k) plans. Auto enrollment can help improve IRS nondiscrimination testing results, increase employees’ retirement readiness, and much more. Learn more about auto enrollment
Employers will be charged $49, $79, or $129/month depending on their pricing plan and $8/month for each active participant in the plan. We don’t charge transaction fees—this includes no plan termination fees or Form 5500 prep fees3. Alternative pricing is available for plans with 50 or more eligible employees at the time of signup. To learn more, contact Sales at hello@guideline.com. See our pricing
With Guideline, you can determine your plan eligibility based on your employees’ age and length of service with your company:
→ Age: 18, 19, 20, or 21 years
→ Length of service: 0, 3, 6, 12 months
We do not distinguish between part time and full time employees.