GEICO 401(k) SAVINGS PLAN
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022
NOTE A – DESCRIPTION OF PLAN
The following description of the GEICO 401(k) Savings Plan (the Plan) (previously known as the Revised Profit Sharing Plan) for the Employees of the Government Employees Companies provides only general information. Participants should refer to the Plan document for a complete description. The Government Employees Companies (the Companies) include GEICO Corporation and certain of its subsidiaries.
The Plan is a safe harbor 401(k) plan. Participants may contribute up to 50 percent of qualified earnings, subject to the maximum dollar amount permitted by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). Participants are enrolled in an automatic 1 percent increase each year in their pre-tax contributions until their contribution reaches 15 percent of their pay or the IRC limit, whichever is less, unless participants opt out. Existing under-saver participants currently electing to defer zero to five percent were automatically adjusted to six percent deferral as of their paycheck in March of 2023 as a one-time adjustment. Eligible participants may also make additional “catch-up” contributions as allowed by the IRC. Participants may allocate their contributions between tax-deferred accounts and, beginning November 1, 2007, Roth accounts.
Employees automatically become eligible to make a 401(k)-elective contribution to the Plan upon their date of hire and effective January 1, 2023, are eligible to receive match upon hire. The maximum amount of the Companies’ match is one dollar for each dollar of the first 6 percent of eligible compensation that a participant contributes to the Plan. The Companies’ match contributions are immediately vested.
Prior to January 1, 2023, participants were generally eligible to receive Companies’ contribution after completing one year of service. Unvested balances from the Revised Profit Sharing Plan, as of December 31, 2022, will continue to vest based on years of service at the following rates: 20 percent after two years, 40 percent after three years, 60 percent after four years, 80 percent after five years, and 100 percent after six years.
Withdrawals may be made from after-tax employee contributions made prior to January 1, 1998 (and a pro rata share of the earnings on after-tax contributions withdrawn that were made after December 31, 1986 and before January 1, 1998) and vested employer contributions made prior to January 1, 1993, subject to certain restrictions. Vested employer contributions made on or after January 1, 1993 can only be withdrawn under financial hardship conditions (for periods before September 2013) or after attainment of age 55. Tax-deferred contributions can be withdrawn under financial hardship conditions or after attainment of age 591⁄2. Roth contributions and earnings can be withdrawn tax free after the participant has completed five years of participation and attained age 591⁄2. The five-year period begins with the first day of the participant’s taxable year in which he or she first made the Roth elective contribution. The participant can withdraw his or her Roth contributions before the five-consecutive year period upon demonstration of financial hardship or attainment of age 591⁄2, but the earnings are subject to taxation. During May 2021, the Plan was amended to permit qualified birth or adoption distributions of up to $5,000.
Effective March 27, 2020, a new distribution option was added to the Plan and was made available until December 31, 2020. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act distribution allowed qualified Plan participants affected by the coronavirus to withdraw up to $100,000 of Plan funds without a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty. CARES Act distributions were subject to regular income taxes, and such tax repayment may be spread over three years. If repayments of the CARES Act distributions are made within three years of the distributions received, such repayments may be treated as rollover contributions. Furthermore, minimum required distributions were suspended for 2020 except upon participant request, and participants who experienced financial challenges due to COVID-19 were eligible to defer 401(k) loan repayments until December 31, 2020.
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