6 companies with the very best retirement plans

Updated 6-1-18 Which companies have the best 401(k) plans? We asked Eric Ryles at employee benefits research firm Judy Diamond Associates to give us a peek at JDA's latest 401(k) benchmarking report. ( JDA is a unit of ALM Media, as is BenefitsPRO.) Ryles looked at plans with 500 or more participants and ranked them using a combination of the following factors:

• Rate of Return over the past 5 years has to average 10% annually or better
• Plan has to have 2 or less red flags of performance
• Average Employee Contributions of at least $5,000 per year per participant
• Average Employer Contributions of at least $4,000 per year per participant
• Participation rate of 90% or better

The result was a list of 20 companies with the best 401(k) plans in America (see below). Above are the top 6, and below is the full list of 20. You can find more information at the Judy Diamond Associates site. Here are the 20 companies with the best 401(k) plans:

• RGA REINSURANCE COMPANY
• INCYTE CORPORATION
• THE VALSPAR CORPORATION
• LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION
• IM FLASH TECHNOLOGIES LLC
• MERITOR INC
• DIMENSIONAL INVESTMENT LLC
• LEGG MASON & CO LLC
• TAFT STETTINIUS & HOLLISTER LLP
• INTERNATIONAL TRANSMISSION COMPANY
• GEMALTO INC
• LORD CORPORATION
• JOHNSON AND JOHNSON
• PACKAGING CORPORATION OF AMERICA
• MOSS ADAMS LLP
• PERFORMANCE CONTRACTING GROUP INC
• FERRING PHARMACEUTICAL INC
• TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED
• FREDRIKSON & BYRON PA
• SEMPRA ENERGY