Update: Credit card staple Visa said Monday it will also increase contributions to employees’ 401k savings plans as a result of the recently passed tax law.
Nationwide announced it will pay $1,000 bonuses to about 29,000 employees and increase matching 401k contributions for all its associates.
Quoting a Nationwide spokesman, Bloomberg says the “move is a response to the new tax law enacted by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in December, a Nationwide spokesman told Bloomberg Law. The law’s reduced corporate tax rate of 21 percent—down from 35 percent—coupled with other factors gave Nationwide an opportunity to share further investments with its workforce.”
The news follows a similar announcement by health insurance giant Aflac regarding an increase in its 401k match.
Also citing the recent “tax reforms enacted by Congress and signed into law by the president,” Aflac said will increase its 401k employer match from 50 percent to 100 percent on the first 4 percent of employee contribution while making a one-time contribution of $500 to every employee’s 401k plan.
In addition to increasing its 401k match, Aflac said it will also offer certain hospital and accident insurance products to all employees free of charge, as the company currently does with its core cancer insurance product.
It expects to increase overall investment in the U.S. by approximately $250 million over three to five years.
The passage of the president’s tax reform overhaul saw several large corporations grant bonuses and pay raises for workers.
AT&T promised of $1,000 to more than 200,000 employees. Boeing followed suit with a pledge of $300 million on “employee-related and charitable investments.”
Wells Fargo, in need of good news following a spate of high profile lawsuits, said it would increase its minimum hourly pay rate from $13.50 to $15 beginning in March.
Specific to Nationwide, the company “currently provides workers with a 50 percent matching contribution on the first 6 percent of compensation they contribute to their 401k accounts,” Bloomberg added.
Starting in early 2018, Nationwide will match 50 percent of the first 7 percent of compensation contributed to a worker’s 401k, the company told the news service. This will affect all of Nationwide’s approximately 33,000 associates, according to the company.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
i asked my part time employer for a raise after the tax cut was past. my pay hasnt changed in the past 5 years. i heard they bumped starting pay $2 an hour which is a couple of dollars less than i make to try to find new help and their response to me was you will not be getting a pay raise because i make more than they pay the team leaders and that is because the company they bought out that i worked for paid decent wages not slave wages as this new company does that bought us out 5 years ago. They said that is the issue with all of us from the company they bought out. So much for the tax bill helping out employees of businesses and giving some of it to their employees they are just greedy scrooges and cheap.