New York Life Insurance 401(k) match, vesting and fees
What New York Life Insurance's 401(k) plan says about matching contributions
New York Life annually determines the level of the employer matching contributions to the Plan. For 2024 and 2023, the matching contribution formula was as follows: (i) up to 3% of benefits salary (generally, base pay and eligible incentive pay) for participants who are eligible to participate in the New York Life Insurance Company Pension Plan (“Pension Plan”) and whose entire pension benefit is determined under the Pension Plan’s final average pay formula; (ii) up to 4% of benefits salary (100% of the first 3% of deferrals, and 50% of the next 2% of deferrals) for participants who either (a) are eligible to participate in the Pension Plan and whose pension benefit is determined, in whole or in part, under a formula (e.g., cash balance) other than the Pension Plan’s final average pay formula; or (b) are not eligible to participate in the Pension Plan and are employees of Apogem Capital LLC (“Apogem”), IndexIQ LLC, IndexIQ Advisors LLC, or MacKay Shields LLC; or (iii) up to 5% of benefits salary (100% of the first 4% of deferrals, and 50% of the next 2% of deferrals) for GBS Employees. For 2024 and 2023, New York Life’s matching contributions to the Plan totaled $61,575 thousand and $59,742 thousand, respectively.
Quoted directly from the filing. Plan terms may have changed; check your current Summary Plan Description.
Plan features
Indented passages are quoted word for word from the audit report; plan terms may have changed since, so check your current Summary Plan Description.
| Employer match | Quoted from the filing above | Audit report, p. 30 ↗ |
| Match vesting | For the 2022 Plan year, Apogem and IndexIQ each approved a discretionary contribution of 5% of 2022 Plan compensation, which totaled $1,026 thousand and was contributed to eligible participant accounts in March 2023. These discretionary contributions are immediately vested and not available for loans or in-service withdrawals. All contributions and related earnings are fully vested when credited to participants’ accounts. | Audit report, p. 30 ↗ |
| Automatic enrollment | Eligible employees are automatically enrolled in the Plan after 60 days of employment with pre-tax contributions at a rate of 5% (6% for employees of Life Insurance Company of North America and New York Life Group Insurance Company of NY (“GBS Employees”)). Employees may stop the automatic enrollment or choose a different contribution rate and/or investment election before the first automatic contribution is deducted, or at any time thereafter. | Audit report, p. 30 ↗ |
| Roth contributions | Under the Plan, participants may contribute (i) pre-tax and/or Roth after-tax contributions to their 401(k) account, as a percentage of base salary and eligible short-term incentive compensation (up to 14% for 2024 and 11% for 2023 for employees whose total annual compensation for the prior year exceeds the prior year’s highly compensated threshold for the Plan ($183,162 in 2023 for 2024 contributions and $172,728 in 2022 for 2023 contributions) and up to 25% for employees whose total annual compensation is below the highly compensated threshold), limited to $23,000 for 2024 and $22,500 for 2023, and (ii) non-tax deductible contributions up to 14% for 2024 and 11% for 2023 of base salary and eligible short-term incentive pay. Highly compensated employees are limited to a combined pre-tax 401(k), Roth 401(k) and non-tax deductible contribution rate of 14% for 2024 and 11% for 2023, while non-highly compensated employees are limited to a combined rate of 25%. Participants may also roll over qualified distributions from eligible retirement plans into the Plan. The Plan also permits participants age 50 and over to make additional pre-tax 401(k) and Roth 401(k) “catch-up” contributions ($7,500 for 2024 and 2023). | Audit report, p. 29 ↗ |
| Loans | Subject to certain limitations, in general, participants may borrow a minimum of $500 up to the lesser of (i) $50,000 minus the highest outstanding principal balance of any of the participant’s controlled group loans (“Outstanding Loan”) during the last twelve months, or (ii) 50% of the participant’s vested account balance, reduced by any current Outstanding Loan. Loans are generally due within four years and carry an interest rate of prime plus 1%. These loans are secured by the balance in the participants’ accounts. | Audit report, p. 31 ↗ |
| Independent auditor | Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLC (unmodified opinion, limited scope) | Schedule H ↗ |
| Plan type and status | 401(k) · Active | Form 5500 ↗ |
All rows are from the plan year 2024 filing; plan features from its audit report.
How the plan compares
Plan year 2024 medians for 104 defined-contribution plans in finance and insurance with 10,000 to 49,999 participants.
| New York Life Insurance: employer contribution per participant | $3,313 | |
| Peer median | $3,632 |
| New York Life Insurance: average balance | $262,049 | |
| Peer median | $158,797 |
| New York Life Insurance: admin expenses ÷ assets | 0.03% | |
| Peer median | 0.04% |
Admin expenses are the plan's reported administrative expenses divided by its assets; they do not include fund expense ratios.
Plan history
Plan assets went from $4.6B at the end of plan year 2023 to $5B at the end of plan year 2024.
| Plan year | Participants | Assets | Employer contributions | Per participant | Admin expense ratio | Match formula | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 19,407 | $5B | $63.1M | $3,313 | 0.03% | Quoted in the audit report, p. 30 ↗ | Form 5500 ↗ |
| 2023 | 19,598 | $4.6B | $60.7M | $3,160 | 0.03% | Not published | Form 5500 ↗ |
Other New York Life Insurance plans (3)
Each plan files its own Form 5500. Figures are from each plan's latest filing.
New York Life Insurance Company Agents Progress- Sharing Investment Plan
Plan features
Match, vesting and enrollment details have not been published from this plan's audit report yet. The figures below come from the structured filing.
| Independent auditor | Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLC (unmodified opinion, limited scope) | Schedule H ↗ |
| Plan type and status | 401(k) · Active | Form 5500 ↗ |
Nylic Retirement Plan
Plan features
Match, vesting and enrollment details have not been published from this plan's audit report yet. The figures below come from the structured filing.
| Recordkeeper | Alight Solutions LLC | Schedule C ↗ |
| Independent auditor | Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP (unmodified opinion, limited scope) | Schedule H ↗ |
| Plan type and status | Pension (defined benefit) · Active | Form 5500 ↗ |
New York Life Insurance Company Pension Plan
Plan features
Match, vesting and enrollment details have not been published from this plan's audit report yet. The figures below come from the structured filing.
| Recordkeeper | Alight Solutions | Schedule C ↗ |
| Independent auditor | Pricewaterhouse Coopers (unmodified opinion, limited scope) | Schedule H ↗ |
| Plan type and status | Pension (defined benefit) · Active | Form 5500 ↗ |
Common questions
Does New York Life Insurance match 401(k) contributions?
The audit report attached to the New York Life Insurance Company Employee Progress Sharing Investment Plan's plan year 2024 Form 5500, page 30 says: “New York Life annually determines the level of the employer matching contributions to the Plan. For 2024 and 2023, the matching contribution formula was as follows: (i) up to 3% of benefits salary (generally, base pay and eligible incentive pay) for participants who are eligible to participate in the New York Life Insurance Company Pension Plan (“Pension Plan”) and whose entire pension benefit is determined under the Pension Plan’s final average pay formula; (ii) up to 4% of benefits salary (100% of the first 3% of deferrals, and 50% of the next 2% of deferrals) for participants who either (a) are eligible to participate in the Pension Plan and whose pension benefit is determined, in whole or in part, under a formula (e.g., cash balance) other than the Pension Plan’s final average pay formula; or (b) are not eligible to participate in the Pension Plan and are employees of Apogem Capital LLC (“Apogem”), IndexIQ LLC, IndexIQ Advisors LLC, or MacKay Shields LLC; or (iii) up to 5% of benefits salary (100% of the first 4% of deferrals, and 50% of the next 2% of deferrals) for GBS Employees. For 2024 and 2023, New York Life’s matching contributions to the Plan totaled $61,575 thousand and $59,742 thousand, respectively.” Plan terms may have changed; check your current Summary Plan Description.
When is the New York Life Insurance 401(k) match vested?
The audit report attached to the plan year 2024 Form 5500, page 30 says: “For the 2022 Plan year, Apogem and IndexIQ each approved a discretionary contribution of 5% of 2022 Plan compensation, which totaled $1,026 thousand and was contributed to eligible participant accounts in March 2023. These discretionary contributions are immediately vested and not available for loans or in-service withdrawals. All contributions and related earnings are fully vested when credited to participants’ accounts.”
Who manages the New York Life Insurance 401(k)?
The filing names Celine Stricoff Vice President as plan administrator; it does not list a recordkeeper.
I left New York Life Insurance. How do I find my old 401(k)?
Your account stays in the plan until you move it. Contact the plan administrator (Celine Stricoff Vice President, (212) 576-7000). The New York Life Insurance old 401(k) page lists the contacts from every plan filing. Find an old New York Life Insurance 401(k)
Data from the public Form 5500 annual reports New York Life Insurance filed with the U.S. Department of Labor (plan years 2023 and 2024) and, where noted, the attached independent auditor's report. Plan terms may have changed since the filing; check your current Summary Plan Description. PlanFacts is not affiliated with New York Life Insurance. Not financial advice. Report a correction · Methodology