Employee benefits in today’s employment environment

June 26, 2026/Business, Regulations/

I noticed this article in Yahoo Finance this week proclaiming that “Your 401(k) match may not be as generous as it once was“. Here’s what peaked my interest as I read this article,

“Employers are acutely aware of the value of helping employees save for retirement, but their recent actions are at odds with that sentiment. For more than 8 in 10 employers, retirement benefits are “extremely” or “very important” for attracting and retaining workers. . . . At the same time, however, employer 401(k) matches are shrinking. Fewer employers offer matches for their 401(k) plans this year (81%) compared with 2025 (85%). And the average maximum employer match for traditional 401(k) plans is 6.11%, down from last year’s average of 6.3%.”

The article goes on to say, however, that a drop in employer matching is not as drastic as it sounds. . . as most workers don’t maximize the employer match anyway. A couple of statistics that I did find interesting in this part of the article was that “Americans saved 7.6% of their paychecks in their employeer-provided retirement plans last year” and “about 14% of participants maxxed their retirement savings last year”.

The article also went on to say that employers are not necessarily getting frugal with benefits by lowering their 401(k) matches this year. Many employers are actually looking into new types of benefits and working them into the employment benefit packages offered to employees. Those newer benefits becoming available more often include:

Paid family and parental leave
Elder care services
Employer matches for 529 plans
Pet Health Insurance
Improved education benefits

. . . and you may see some employers institute financial help as a benefit help in growing the new Trump Savings Accounts for minors.

The article also noted that “Nearly half of US workers plan to look for a new job in the next six months, a shift worth watching after years of “job hugging” in a low-hire labor market. . . . . .The top reason for considering a move? Better benefits and perks.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take: I think employee compensation has been, and always will be, very important to your employees. However, I think we now live in an environment where employee benefits are more and more important as well. . . . . And, as employee concerns, such as education, child care, caretaking of parents, retirement, continue to get more diverse a “cafeteria plan” of benefits is important as well.

That “cafeteria plan” approach allows each employee to “focus in” on the benefits that will help them the most.

The math says “take the 401(k) match: I love doing “What-if” scenarios and here is one that might fit in the funeral director realm. Let’s just use the following variables in a 401(k) accumulation growth situation:

Employee Salary: $80,000
4% to 401(k): $3,200 annually (and grows with wage increases)
Salary Increase of 2.5% annually
Investment Growth of 5% annually

**Using that formula over 30 years would result in a 401(k) plan value of $630,475

Now, if your employer matched up to 4% of your salary at 100% that would mean another $630,475 for a total value of $1,260,950.

If you look at that $1,260,950 as a total value over 30 years, it is like receiving an extra $42,000 in pay per year!!!! And, that is set-aside for your retirement waiting for you to live the “good life”.

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