Getting started with your Betterment 401(k)

Your employer chose Betterment as its 401(k) provider - so come on in and be invested for your future.

Traveling around the world. Taking up a new hobby. Spending more time with family and friends. Whatever your retirement dreams are, a 401(k) can help you make them a reality. And luckily for you, your employer chose Betterment to manage its 401(k) plan.

Top 3 perks of a 401(k)

Participating in your employer’s 401(k) plan is a good idea for many reasons – here are the top three. With a 401(k), you can:

1. Contribute via convenient, automatic payroll deductions (one less thing to think about!).
2. Save on taxes, whether those savings happen today with a traditional 401(k) or at retirement with a Roth 401(k) (and the cool thing is that you can use both!).
3. Invest more than with other retirement vehicles (individual retirement accounts (IRAs) have lower caps on how much you can put in).

All said, saving for retirement with a 401(k) is basically a no-brainer. Without a regular paycheck in retirement, you’re going to rely on your own savings. And we’re not talking about cash-under-the-mattress savings or even safe-in-the-bank savings - but invested savings, which is what you get with a 401(k). (Why is it so critical to invest for long-term goals, rather than simply saving money in the bank? To tackle one word: Inflation.)

Top Betterment features

Betterment offers several features to help you pursue your retirement goals:

• Goal based – Your 401(k) will automatically be a “Retirement” goal on the Betterment platform (you could add additional goals for other things if you want). Our goal-based platform looks at your timeline until retirement and the desired amount you want to save, to help you invest in an expert-built portfolio. 
• Low cost – Our approach uses low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs) so more of your money stays invested in your account.
• High tech –Certain portfolio strategies and goal types are automatically rebalanced and adjusted over time, and our tax-smart tools are available to you at no added management fee.
• Personalized – Betterment helps you work towards your long- and short-term financial goals with personalized advice.

It’s easy to get started

Betterment will contact you via email to set up your account via a secure link that’s unique to you. If you haven’t received an invitation from us to set up your account, please contact us.

Once you’ve set up your account, be sure to set a contribution rate to help you pursue your goals (although starting with anything is far better than nothing!) and you’ll want to initiate a rollover of any old 401(k)s into your new Betterment 401(k).

Were you automatically enrolled in your plan?

If so, you still need to set up your account with a username and password. If your employer has determined an automatic contribution rate for your organization, know that you can adjust this in your account at any time.

Betterment strives to make saving and investing for retirement easy. But we know you still might have questions, so we’re here to help:

Explore our 401(k) employee resources

Send us an email: support@betterment.com

Give us a call: (718) 400-6898, Monday through Friday, 9:00am-6:00pm ET