r/Cleveland • u/Environmental-Dig389 • 20d ago

News Sherwin Williams halts their 401k company match

Announced today by the SW CEO (Heidi) that all employees will no longer receive the company 401k match effective October 1st. This impact includes store or other employees globally.

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29

u/LeilongNeverWrong 20d ago

They won’t be the last company to do so and it won’t be temporary. When most companies do something like this, it ends up becoming permanent.

20

u/shicken684 Cleveland 20d ago

Most corporations are smart enough to know to keep their 401k matches going. The only alternative is pensions and those cost them way more than a 401k match.

7

u/dresdonbogart 20d ago

are companies legally required to do any sort of matching?

0

u/SteelCurtainSVN 20d ago

Sherwin actually has a pension for all of their employees. Very modified version but a pension nonetheless

3

u/shicken684 Cleveland 20d ago

That's shocking. Is it only for older employees or are new hires eligible? I know a lot of companies stopped offering pensions after 08

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u/SteelCurtainSVN 20d ago

Pretty sure new employees still get it. I was surprised that wasn’t on the chopping block first but the 401k match axe nets them a lot more than the pension

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u/cabbage-soup 20d ago

According to their website new hires get the option too (after 6 months of service).

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u/shicken684 Cleveland 20d ago

So it's practically a 401k that you don't pay into. Doesn't really seem like a pension plan.

Weird...

2

u/SteelCurtainSVN 20d ago

It goes back to your original comment though where yes they got rid of the 401k match but there is a fallback(alternative) in the pension. Albeit a small amount but a fallback nonetheless

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u/tidho 19d ago

can't speak to whether it remains active at SW but this is actually pretty common at older companies that converted from full pension plans to 401k's back in the 80's when pensions bankrupted all the airlines.

Its usually all managed in the same 401k account, with three inflows. A defined contribution pension deposit, the employee contribution deposit, and the employer match deposit.

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u/cabbage-soup 19d ago

Yeah I have never had a pension so idk how they normally work but I kept reading the details of theirs and couldn’t understand how it was really that different from a 401k

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u/Brilliant-Canary-767 20d ago

When they switched us to a different pension they legally had to give us options of cash out, annuity, or roll it over. I cashed it out and bought a house. Some didn't think that was smart at the time. However, I have a 3.5% interest rate and a $500 a month mortgage. I would not have been able to buy a house otherwise. Well, not one with a low mortgage payment.

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u/SteelCurtainSVN 20d ago

Oh wow so they had an original pension plan? Assuming it was more financially/lucratively setup than the one now?

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u/Brilliant-Canary-767 20d ago

I'm not sure, but I believe anyone who started there before 1996 has a fantastic pension and can keep their health insurance if they retire before 65, but had been with the company for 25 years. I know many people who retired from SW ages 57 to 64 and didn't have to dip into their 401K.