By Jeff Herman
Would you pick up $800 if you found it lying in the street?
What if you could increase your retirement savings without contributing another dollar of your own?
According to research from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, many married couples may be overlooking roughly that amount each year in available 401(k) matching contributions.
And the fix can be surprisingly simple.
Consider this example.
- One spouse works for an employer that matches 401(k) contributions dollar-for-dollar up to 3% of his salary.
- The other spouse’s employer matches 50 cents on the dollar up to 6%.
Most couples, most likely, don’t even talk to each other about how it’s set up, and they split their contributions between both plans and move on.
But that’s not always the most efficient strategy.
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If the goal is to maximize the total amount flowing into the household’s retirement accounts (which is often my #1 priority), the smarter move may be to fully capture the dollar-for-dollar match first before directing additional contributions elsewhere.
The couple isn’t adding any of their own money to save more. They’re simply collecting more of the employer’s money already available to them.
The Boston College study found that roughly 20% of married couples fail to coordinate their retirement contributions to maximize employer matching contributions.
The average missed opportunity? You guessed it – about $760 per year.
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That may not sound life-changing, but retirement success is often built on small decisions repeated over decades. A few hundred extra dollars each year can compound into tens of thousands of additional retirement assets over time.
The bigger lesson isn’t really about the match.
It’s about coordination.
Most retirement plans are designed around the individual, but retirement itself is often funded and lived out as a household. Yet most couples won’t evaluate whether their combined retirement strategy is working as efficiently as possible.
And life changes.
Promotions happen. Employers change benefit packages. One spouse changes jobs. A new company may offer a much better match than the previous employer.
The problem is that many people continue contributing exactly as they did years ago without ever revisiting the strategy.
What was once efficient may no longer be.
At The Jeffrey Group, we often talk about Financial Harmony—the idea that investments, retirement accounts, tax planning, and future income should work together as a coordinated system.
This study is a great reminder that sometimes the biggest opportunity isn’t finding a better investment.
It’s making sure you’re taking full advantage of the benefits already available to you. Need my help evaluating your plans? Book some time HERE.
Five Questions Every Married Couple Should Ask
- Are we both receiving the full employer match available to us?
- Which employer offers the more generous matching formula?
- Have either of our retirement benefits changed recently?
- Has a promotion, raise, or job change created a new opportunity?
- When was the last time we reviewed our retirement contribution strategy together?
A simple review today could uncover retirement dollars you didn’t even realize you were missing.
