In the United States, a 401(k) plan is the tax-qualified, defined-contribution pension account defined in subsection 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. Under the plan, retirement savings contributions are provided (and sometimes proportionately matched) by an employer, deducted from the employee's paycheck before taxation (therefore tax-deferred until withdrawn after retirement or as otherwise permitted by applicable law), and limited to a maximum pre-tax annual contribution of $18,000 (as of 2015).
Other employer-provided defined-contribution plans include 403(b) plans, for nonprofit institutions, and 457(b) plans for governmental employers. These plans are all established under section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. 401(a) plans may provide total annual addition of $53,000 (as of 2015) per plan participant, including both employee and employer contributions.
The section of the Internal Revenue Code that made 401(k) plans possible was enacted into law in 1978. It was intended to allow taxpayers a break on taxes on deferred income. In 1980, a benefits consultant named Ted Benna took note of the previously obscure provision and figured out that it could be used to create a simple, tax-advantaged way to save for retirement. The client he was working for at the time chose not to create a 401(k) plan. He later went on to install the first 401(k) plan at his own employer, The Johnson Companies (today doing business as Johnson Kendall & Johnson). At the time, employees could contribute twenty-five percent of their salary, up to $30,000 per year, to their employer's 401(k) plan.