401(k)
type of retirement/pension plan in the United States
In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored defined-contribution personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodic employee contributions come directly out of their paychecks, and may be matched by the employer. This pre-tax option is what makes traditional 401(k) plans attractive to employees, and many employers offer this option to their full-time workers. 401(k) payable is a general ledger account that contains the amount of 401(k) plan pension payments that an employer has an obligation to remit to a pension plan administrator. This account is classified as a payroll liability, since the amount owed should be paid within one year.
There are two types of 401(k) plans: traditional and Roth. For traditional accounts, contributions may be deducted from taxable income and withdrawals are added to taxable income. For Roth accounts, contributions and withdrawals have no impact on income tax due to contributions originating from post-tax income. There are limits to contributions, rules governing withdrawals, and possible penalties.
At the end of the first quarter of 2026, assets held in 401(k) plans were estimated at $9.9 trillion, including $5.7 trillion held in mutual funds.
The public source identifies “401(k)” as type of retirement/pension plan in the United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around type, retirement and pension.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1206798. The Library of Congress control number is sh89002563. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2026.
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This entry incorporates text from “401(k)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.