Saving For Retirement: Investment and Savings Plan (ISP) / 401(k)

Whether you’re just starting your career or nearing retirement, saving now is a critical step for creating a more secure financial future for you and your family. The Hartford’s Investment and Savings Plan (ISP), which is our 401(k) plan, can help.

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Your Contributions

You can begin contributing at any time, and elect to save up to 50% of your eligible compensation to your ISP account with one or a combination of the following contribution types:

	Traditional Before Tax	Roth 401(k)	After Tax
Contributions	These contributions and earnings are not taxed, until they are withdrawn from the plan. Making before-tax contributions may be beneficial if you anticipate being in a lower tax bracket at retirement.	These contributions are made after taxes are withheld from your gross pay and do not reduce your taxable income.	These contributions are made after taxes are withheld from your gross pay and do not reduce your taxable income.
Limits	Subject to IRS and plan limits.
Distributions	Contributions and earnings are taxed when they are withdrawn.*	Contributions and earnings may be withdrawn tax-free, if certain criteria are met.*	At the time of distribution, you will not pay taxes on the contributions; however, you will pay taxes on their earnings.*
	*Consult your tax advisor before making any distributions from the plan.

You can choose to increase or decrease the contribution amount for future pay periods at any time. You can roll over qualifying amounts from an IRA or a previous employer's eligible plan.

How Much The Hartford Contributes

Immediately upon hire, the company helps boost your retirement in two ways:

Makes a non-elective contribution of two percent of your eligible pay (each pay period); – this means the company contributes this amount even if you don’t make contributions on your own.
Matches one dollar for every dollar you save*, up to six percent of your eligible pay (each pay period)
Company contributions are 100% vested after two years of service with the company.

*Excluding catch-up contributions

Boost Your Savings with Your Bonus*

You can elect to contribute a separate percentage** from your annual bonus to your ISP account. This means you can give your savings a boost through your annual bonus without impacting the percentage you regularly contribute each pay period. This amount can be changed, at any time, by logging on to NetBenefits.

If you do not wish to make a contribution to the ISP from your annual bonus, you must specify 0% for your annual bonus on NetBenefits.

*Only Annual Bonus payments, paid out once per year, typically in the March timeframe, are considered eligible earnings for the separate annual bonus contribution election. Payments for all other ISP-eligible pay fall under your regular contribution election. Bonus contribution elections cannot be made retroactively.

**Excludes catch-up contribution elections. If you have met the IRS limit for the year ($23,500 in 2025), catch-up contributions will be deducted from your annual bonus at your before tax and/or Roth election rate(s) on file.

Making Catch-Up Contributions

If you are age 50 or older, you may make an additional contribution to the Plan called a catch-up contribution. If you wish to make a catch-up contribution, you will elect a single contribution percentage for your before-tax or Roth 401(k) contributions, which will be used for all of your contributions from your regular paycheck including catch-up (excluding annual bonus, see above for details). It is important to understand that if you are age 50 or older, your contributions will not stop when you reach the IRS limit but will continue automatically, using the single percentage you elected, until you reach the IRS limit plus the catch-up limit combined ($31,000 for 2025). If you do not wish to contribute the total IRS limit for which you are eligible (i.e. $31,000 in 2025), the single contribution rate(s) you elect must take this into consideration.

For example, if you wish to contribute the maximum amount of before-tax contributions allowed by the IRS, you will divide the sum of the IRS annual limit plus the catch-up contribution limit by your annual salary to determine your single before-tax contribution rate:

$31,000 ($23,500 annual IRS limit + $7,500 catch-up limit)/$76,250 (annual salary)=41%.*

Please note that above example does not take into consideration an annual bonus amount or separate bonus contribution election.

The ISP Catch-Up contributions are not matched by the company.

Special Note on Catch-up Contributions for Plan Participants Age 60-63

*Based on 2025 IRS limits, may be higher in subsequent years.

How "Spill Over" Works

If you reach the Annual Before-Tax and Roth 401(k) IRS Limit before the end of the current calendar year and have not met the maximum allowable compensation limit, your contributions will "spill over" and continue on an after-tax basis unless you elect otherwise. This way you don't miss out on any company match. "Spill over" elections are automatic. If you do not want your contributions to "spill over" to after-tax, log on to your NetBenefits  account and make an election to stop "spill over". If you are age 50 or older and eligible to make catch-up contributions, your contributions will not “spill over” to after-tax contributions until you have reached the annual IRS limit plus catch-up limit combined, unless you elect otherwise.

Beginning on January 1 of the following year, your before-tax and/or Roth 401(k) contributions will resume at the rate in effect from the prior year.

Matching Company True-Up Contributions Provide Flexibility

The Hartford will make an annual year end true-up contribution to your ISP account, if eligible, which allows you to contribute throughout the year in a way that fits your financial plan or budget. If, for example, you choose to frontload your ISP contributions in the first 6 months of the year, rather than spread them out over 12 months, you won’t miss out on any company matching contributions. The company match true-up contribution ensures that you receive the company matching contributions that reflect your total plan contributions for the year by comparing what The Hartford contributed to what you could have received if you did not reach specific annual contributory IRS limits.

The Hartford conducts an annual calculation at the end of each plan year and makes a company match true-up contribution, if you are due one for the prior plan year, within the first quarter of the following plan year.

Access Your Account and Get More Information

Go to NetBenefits to access your account and update your information. On this site, you'll find additional plan details, investment and vesting information and the plan's Summary Plan Description, as well as tools and calculators to help you determine how much to contribute to your ISP. If you have questions, call the HR Service Center at 1-877-HR-AT-WORK (1-877-472-8967). For personalized investment advice, contact Edelman Financial Engines.