IBM 401(k) match, vesting and fees

Newly hired employees are automatically enrolled at 5 percent of eligible salary and performance pay after approximately 30 days of employment with IBM, unless they elect otherwise.

The Plan offers all eligible active, full-time and part-time regular and long-term supplemental United States (U.S.) employees of International Business Machines Corporation (“IBM”) and certain of its domestic related companies and partnerships an opportunity to defer from one to eighty percent of their eligible compensation for before-tax 401(k) and/or Roth 401(k) contributions to any of 34 primary investment funds and about 160 mutual funds in an “Expanded Choice - Mutual Funds tier.”

Participant Loans Participants may borrow up to one-half of the value of their account balance, not to exceed $50,000, within a twelve month period. Loans will be granted in $1 increments subject to a minimum loan amount of $500. Participants are limited to two simultaneous outstanding Plan loans. Repayment of a loan is made through semi-monthly payroll deductions. Loans originated under the Plan have a repayment term of one to four years for a general purpose loan or one to ten years for a primary residence loan. There are a limited number of outstanding loans originated under acquired company plans that were merged into the Plan having repayment terms greater than 10 years and up to a maximum term of 30 years. The loans originated under the Plan bear a fixed rate of interest, set quarterly, for the term of the loan, determined by the Plan administrator to be 1.25 points above the prime rate. The interest is credited to the participant’s account as the semimonthly repayments of principal and interest are made. Interest rates on outstanding loans at December 31, 2024 and 2023 ranged from 3.25 percent to 10.75 percent. Participants may prepay all or portion of the entire remaining loan principal at any time. Employees on an approved leave of absence may elect to make scheduled loan payments directly to the Plan. Participants may continue to contribute to the Plan while having an outstanding loan. A loan default is a taxable event to the participant and will be reported as such in the year of the loan default. Participants who retire or separate from IBM and have outstanding Plan loans may make loan repayments via Automated Clearing House (ACH) deductions to continue monthly loan repayments according to their original amortization schedule.