529 Account Employer

When an employee completes the eligibility requirements for their 401(k), they will be alerted via email of any additional benefits offered such as 529’s. However, an employee may set up a 529 goal and contributions prior to completing eligibility requirements for participation in the 401(k) plan if they were to claim their Betterment account earlier than they become eligible.

There is no additional cost to an employer participating in a Betterment at Work benefits package to offer the 529 benefit. 529’s (and Student Loan Management) are included by default in our Pro and Flagship pricing tiers. A plan may opt out of these benefits, however this action would not change the plan’s pricing. Please see our Betterment at Work pricing page for more details.

If you would like to add the 529 benefit to your existing Betterment at Work benefits package, please reach out to our plan support team by calling (855) 906-5280 or emailing us at plansupport@betterment.com. Our team will further assist you in adding this benefit to your plan.

Adding a 529 plan to your employee benefits package is a great way to help your employees save for the future. You can offer an employer match and allow employees to fund their 529 account(s) via payroll contributions. Please reach out to our plan support team by calling (855) 906-5280 or emailing us at plansupport@betterment.com for more information on getting started.

If an employee separates from an employer and has a connected 529 plan, they may continue to use the connected 529 plan. Please note that some features will no longer be available to this employee such as payroll contributions and employer match. If an employer stops offering a benefit, the employee will still be able to access their 529 account and their funds directly through the plan website.

There is currently no payroll integration support for 529s. To upload 529 contributions for your employees, you’ll need to download the payroll template in your employer dashboard. There will be a column for 529 contributions. If your 401(k) plan has an integration, you will need to submit the 529 contributions via the manual payroll contribution. 529 contributions do not have any relationship with 401(k) contributions. They will be separately deducted from the employer’s bank account, ...