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Data & Research October 1, 2025
Availability of Contribution Options Across Plan Sizes
Adoption of Roth, after-tax and catch-up contribution options varies, sometimes dramatically, across plan sizes.
Reported by PLANADVISER staff
Defined contribution plan sponsors have to make decisions about what types of contribution options to make available to plan participants. The 2025 PLANSPONSOR Plan Benchmarking report shows there are significant differences in availability of various contribution options to plan participants, depending on plan size. Perhaps not surprisingly, larger plans are much more likely than their smaller peers to make multiple contribution options available.
Overall, more than three-quarters of plans offer Roth contributions overall, though that varies from a low of 46.4% to a high of 98.8%. Catch-up contributions are available at 55.4% of plans, while after-tax contributions are the least likely to be available, at only 24.2% of plans overall, though that reaches a high of 57.1% at the largest plans. In-plan Roth conversions are also more prevalent in mega plans.
Types of Employee Contributions Permitted In DC Plans
| Catch-up contributions | After-tax contributions | Roth contributions | |
| Overall | 55.4% | 24.2% | 77.8% |
| <$1M | 36.2% | 15.6% | 46.4% |
| $1M – $5M | 61.6% | 20.6% | 69.2% |
| >$5M – $10M | 50.2% | 18.6% | 86.0% |
| >$10M – $25M | 45.2% | 18.2% | 88.7% |
| >$25M – $50M | 60.1% | 22.4% | 87.5% |
| >$50M – $100M | 62.7% | 28.2% | 89.1% |
| >$100M – $200M | 74.0% | 32.9% | 95.9% |
| >$200M – $500M | 77.2% | 38.9% | 90.6% |
| >$500M – $1B | 93.8% | 54.3% | 98.8% |
| >$1B | 87.8% | 57.1% | 95.5% |
Source: PLANSPONSOR 2025 Plan Benchmarking Report
DC Plans Allowing for In-Plan Roth Conversions Overall
Source: PLANSPONSOR 2025 Plan Benchmarking Report
DC Plans Allowing for In-Plan Roth Conversions $1M – $5M
Source: PLANSPONSOR 2025 Plan Benchmarking Report
DC Plans Allowing for In-Plan Roth Conversions Greater Than $1B
Source: PLANSPONSOR 2025 Plan Benchmarking Report
