UPS 401k: Which Plan You Are In, and What UPS Actually Pays Into It

By Craig Wear, CFP® | Last reviewed: November 4, 2026

The UPS 401k is two main plans. Non-union employees use the UPS 401(k) Savings Plan, with a 50% match on up to 6% of pay plus a 3% to 8% retirement contribution. Teamsters use the Teamster-UPS National 401(k), whose Schedule H shows $0 in employer contributions every year from 2021 to 2024.

Which UPS 401(k) are you in: non-union, Teamster, pilot or Local 2727?

Your union status decides the plan; you do not choose it. Four main UPS 401(k) plans filed Form 5500s for 2024: non-union, Teamster, pilots (Independent Pilots Association) and mechanics (IBT Local 2727). The plan name on your statement settles it, and your hire date then sets the non-union terms.

Compiled from the 2025 Form 11-K for the non-union plan, the audited notes in the 2024 Form 5500 filings for the Teamster plan, the pilots’ plan and the Local 2727 plan, and the 2023 to 2028 UPS National Master Agreement.

What does UPS put into the non-union 401(k), and what changed for 2025 hires?

UPS adds two separate amounts: a match capped at 3% of pay, and a nonelective retirement contribution that does not depend on your deferrals. The second is the larger one. Of the $620.2 million in employer contributions on the 2024 Schedule H, the match was $141.8 million, or 23%.

Section 4.2 and Appendix 4.2 of the plan document restated January 1, 2023 set the retirement contribution by service: 5% of eligible pay at 0 to 4 years, 6% at 5 to 9, 7% at 10 to 14, and 8% at 15 or more. Pre-2008 hires who were in the pension may also receive transition contributions, which totaled $90.67 million for 2025.

Amendment Number Four rewrote the deal for anyone whose employment or reemployment commencement date is January 1, 2025 or later, and added one rule that reaches everyone:

• Retirement contribution: a flat 3% of eligible pay, regardless of years of service, for 2025 and later hires.
• Match vesting: 2025 and later hires vest after three years of service or at age 62, whichever comes first. Earlier hires stay 100% vested at all times. The retirement contribution vests after three complete years for every participant.
• Last-day rule, all participants: since January 1, 2025, the match requires employment on the last day of the calendar quarter, and the retirement and transition contributions require employment on the last day of the calendar year. Under Section 4.2(c) as amended, leaving on December 30 means no retirement contribution for that year.
• Auto-enrollment: the 2025 Form 11-K puts new automatic enrollees at 3% pre-tax within 90 days of hire (6% before 2025), rising 1% a year to 15%.

The general mechanics of a match and a cliff schedule live on our pages about how a 401(k) match works and 401(k) vesting schedules.

In dollars, at $90,000 of eligible pay and a 6% deferral in 2026:

Q3 calculation using 2026 IRS figures and the plan terms above; hypothetical workers, not a projection for any person. Assumes employment on every required last day. Script: scenario_ups-401k.py.

Under these 2026 terms, the 15-year worker who stopped deferring would still receive the $7,200 retirement contribution and lose only the $2,700 match, because Section 4.2(a) calls that contribution nonelective. The Teamster row is not comparable on its own: that worker’s employer-funded benefit is a monthly pension, covered below.

The deferral ceiling is 50% of eligible pay, pre-tax or Roth, up to the 2026 limit of $24,500, so the percentage cap stops binding at $49,000 of pay. Participants with eligible pay under $150,000 may add after-tax contributions of up to 10% of pay, capped at $14,000 a year, per the 2025 Form 11-K.

Does UPS put anything into the Teamster-UPS 401(k)?

Not in the filings. Schedule H reports $0 of employer contributions for 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, against $3.82 billion from participants. Article 29, Section 3 of the National Master Agreement explains the structure: UPS must withhold what members elect and pay the recordkeeping expense, and the article contains no contribution formula.

The operative sentence in Article 29, Section 3 says the Employer “shall withhold from an employee’s earnings, amounts mutually agreed between the Employer and the employee, and deposit such monies into a 401(k) account.” UPS’s employer money for Teamsters is bargained instead in Article 34, the health, welfare and pension article, and the agreement runs through July 31, 2028.

The audited Note 1 in the 2024 filing sets the member’s side of the plan:

• Who: UPS employees represented by the IBT or other trustee-approved unions, excluding UPS Ground Freight, eligible “on their first day of employment.” The note sets no full-time requirement, so nothing in it excludes part-timers.
• How much: up to 35% of eligible regular pay pre-tax or after-tax, up to 5% more as voluntary after-tax, and up to 100% of option week pay; Puerto Rico employees are limited to 10% pre-tax.
• Vesting: immediate, since every dollar is your own.
• Governance: ten trustees, five named by the IBT and five by UPS.

Under 2026 limits, the 35% cap reaches the $24,500 deferral limit at $70,000 of regular pay. A part-timer earning $30,000 tops out at $10,500. Catch-up room is $8,000 at age 50 and up, or $11,250 at ages 60 to 63, and the note applies its own 35% ceiling to catch-ups too.

The plan carries characteristic code 2S in all four years, which the Form 5500 instructions define as automatic enrollment, but the filing gives no rate. Ask the plan administrator for the default percentage and any annual step-up.

Fees raise one question for the trustees. Article 29 says the Employer “shall pay the record-keeping expense,” and Note 5 reports UPS paid $1,107,305 toward administration and recordkeeping in 2024. Yet Schedule H line 2i(3) also shows $4,500,593 of recordkeeping fees, and Note 2 charges administrative expenses to accounts per capita. Total administrative expenses of $8,538,198 equal about $39 per account with a balance; the filings do not itemize what that covers.

What do the Form 5500 filings show for each UPS 401(k), 2021 to 2024?

The four plans held $35.5 billion at the end of 2024. The Teamster plan is the largest at $19.31 billion across 219,009 account balances; the non-union plan holds $14.19 billion across 124,928. The non-union and Local 2727 plans are the only two of the four reporting employer contributions.

Q3 tabulation of DOL Form 5500 and Schedule H public data, plan years 2021 to 2024, joined on ACK_ID, newest filing per plan per year (each plan had one filing per year in these files). Script: tab_ups-401k.py.

“Active” is not “saving.” The Form 5500 instructions count anyone eligible to elect 401(k) deferrals as active. With first-day eligibility, that is why the Teamster plan shows 451,512 active in 2024 against 219,009 balances (a ratio of 48.5%, and some balance holders are former employees). The filings do not state how many active members deferred that year. Filings for another employer’s plan are reviewed in what Home Depot’s 401(k) filings show.

The pension freeze is visible in the non-union numbers. Employer contributions rose 153%, from $266.9 million in 2022 to $674.1 million in 2023, the first year former pension accruers earned the retirement contribution. The 2024 figure reconciles to the 11-K: $141.847 million match, $356.956 million retirement contribution net of forfeitures, $99.462 million transition, and $21.936 million of forfeitures applied, for $620.2 million.

Headcount and payouts moved. Active counts fell 21.6% (non-union) and 17.8% (Teamster) from 2021 to 2024; Coyote employees’ contributions ended in September 2024 after that divestiture. Teamster benefit payments jumped 48% in 2024 to $1.53 billion, and the filing gives no reason.

Averages only. Net assets per account with a balance were $88,160 (Teamster) and $113,571 (non-union) in 2024, means pulled upward by large accounts; Form 5500 reports no median. The newest non-union total is the 2025 Form 11-K’s $15.70 billion at December 31, 2025.

How does the UPS pension fit with each 401(k)?

The two groups run in opposite directions. Non-union pension accruals stopped on January 1, 2023, so new employer money goes to the 401(k). For Teamsters, employer money goes to the pension and the 401(k) holds only your pay. UPS/IBT full-timers accrue $185 a month per credited year; UPS Pension Plan part-timers accrue $65. Another employer that holds retirement money across separate plans is covered in the Sherwin Williams 401(k) guide.

UPS’s 2025 annual report says the UPS Retirement Plan covers eligible employees hired before July 1, 2016 and ceased non-union accruals on January 1, 2023. What those employees earned stays in that plan. The 2024 Form 5500 counts 39,297 active in the UPS Retirement Plan, 159,780 in the UPS Pension Plan and 68,290 in the UPS/IBT Full-Time Employee Pension Plan.

From Article 34, Section 1(i) and Section 1(l)(6) of the 2023 to 2028 National Master Agreement. Full-time amounts for 30 to 35 years add $100 per year over 30, and 25-year amounts at 57 or older add $100 per year over 25. Plan documents and any supplement control.

Your supplement decides which pension covers you. Article 34 keeps contributions flowing to IBT funds such as the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Fund, and Locals 177 and 804 have their own UPS multiemployer plans; the UPS/IBT column applies to full-timers who would otherwise be in Central States. Under Section 1(l), early retirement starts at 50 with five years of vesting service, reduced 6% for each year before 65. A full part-time credit year takes 750 paid hours under Section 1(i)(2). A wider comparison of the two plan types sits on our pension vs 401(k) page.

When can money leave each UPS 401(k) before age 59½?

Both main plans allow distributions on hardship, termination of employment, death or total and permanent disability. Both also treat after-tax and rollover money more loosely: Section 9.8(a) of the non-union plan permits withdrawal “at any time,” and the Teamster note carves the same money out of its age limit. The 10% additional tax is a separate question.

Section 9.8(a) also says an after-tax withdrawal is allocated pro rata between pre-tax and after-tax money under Code section 72(d), so part of it is usually taxable.

The trap for long-service Teamsters is timing. A 30-year UPS/IBT service pension can start at any age, but IRC section 72(t)(2)(A)(v) waives the 10% additional tax only for an employee separating after attaining age 55, and section 72(t)(3)(A) switches that exception off for IRAs. A retiree leaving at 52 has a pension check and a 401(k) still subject to the 10% tax unless another exception applies, such as the 72(t) substantially equal payment route. A retiree who separates at 56 and rolls everything to an IRA gives up the exception on that money until 59½. The general rule is covered in our rule of 55 explainer.

Loans differ more than most summaries say:

• Non-union: only for hardship or certain residential purchases, $1,000 minimum, lesser of $50,000 or 50% of balances across UPS plans, up to 5 years (15 for a residence), at prime plus 1% set at the end of the prior month.
• Teamster: the 2024 note lists no purpose test, with the same $1,000 and $50,000 or 50% limits, 1 to 5 years (up to 20 for a primary residence), at prime plus 1% set at the end of the prior calendar quarter. Termination makes the balance due or a taxable distribution.

With prime at 7.00% since September 17, 2026, a new loan under either formula would carry about 8.00% today.

On payout form, the Teamster note lists a lump sum or a rollover to a qualified plan. Section 9.5 of the non-union plan adds partial lump sums and monthly installments after severance.

What should a UPS retiree check before a rollover or Roth conversion?

Three plan-specific items change the answer: how much after-tax money sits in the account, whether you hold UPS stock with a low cost basis, and how much of the low tax brackets your pension already uses. Each decides whether a straight rollover to an IRA gives up something the plan distribution could have kept.

After-tax money. IRS Notice 2014-54 lets a distribution be split so pre-tax dollars go to a traditional IRA and after-tax dollars go directly to a Roth IRA, without the conversion tax on that after-tax basis. Both plans accept after-tax contributions, so the after-tax basis figure is worth requesting before rollover forms are signed. The mechanics sit on our page about mega backdoor Roth withdrawal rules.

UPS stock. Employer stock in the non-union plan fell from 19.4% of net assets ($2.67 billion) in 2021 to 10.2% ($1.45 billion) in 2024, and the plan stopped offering additional shares on April 4, 2025. Section 9.12 lets a distributee take the UPS Stock Fund portion in whole shares, the step IRC section 402(e)(4) requires for net unrealized appreciation treatment. Rolling those shares to an IRA ends that option, as our net unrealized appreciation guide explains.

The pension floor, worked through. Take a hypothetical married couple, both under 65, in 2026, with one spouse retired from UPS at age 55 or older on the $4,800 UPS/IBT 30-year service pension and no other income:

• Pension income: $4,800 x 12 = $57,600.
• Less the $32,200 standard deduction: $25,400 taxable, for $2,552 of federal tax under the Rev. Proc. 2025-32 joint table.
• Room left to the top of the 12% bracket at $100,800: $75,400.
• Federal tax if that full $75,400 were converted: $9,048, or 12%.

This is a Q3 calculation using 2026 IRS figures on a hypothetical household, and it does not settle whether converting suits anyone. State tax, Social Security timing and ACA premium credits can all change the result. A retiree under 59½ also faces two limits: rolling money to an IRA to convert it gives up the age 55 exception on that money, and IRC section 408A(d)(3)(F) applies the 10% tax to converted amounts withdrawn within five years. Our Roth conversion tax page covers how brackets stack.

Frequently asked questions

This article is for educational purposes only and is not individualized investment, tax, or legal advice. Consult a qualified professional about your specific situation.