Are You Saving as Much in Your Cardinal 401k as Your Peers?

For many Cardinal Health employees, the 401(k) serves as the absolute foundation of retirement planning. Yet one question consistently arises during our ongoing planning sessions: Am I saving enough—and how do I compare to others in similar roles?

National benchmarks have shifted recently. Data from the landmark 25th edition Vanguard How America Saves Report shows that the average total retirement account contribution rate sits at 12.1% of pay, combining both employee selections and employer matching contributions. While individual circumstances vary, this baseline offers a functional lens: Are you pacing ahead of the curve, or is there room to optimize?

Across our Cardinal employee client base, we notice a higher average. Most of our clients are personally saving at least 10% of their gross pay, with many scaling closer to 15% or more—before factoring in the Cardinal Health matching program. Maintaining these higher savings rates opens the door for our clients to consider full retirement, or a strategic career downshift, in their mid-to-late 50s.

If your current contribution pace isn't there yet, do not worry. It takes structured execution to scale up. As Cardinal wraps up its annual merit increase cycle right now, you are in the single best window of the year to make these adjustments.

Before your day-to-day lifestyle completely adapts to your new compensation tier, consider committing half of your fresh corporate merit increase directly to your 401(k).

• Receive a 2% raise? Bump your 401(k) contribution by 1%.
• Secure a 4% raise? Pivot 2% into your savings.

Because the cycle is finalized or executing now, mapping this out today ensures your net take-home pay still rises modestly, while aggressively compounding your long-term wealth behind the scenes. Over the years, countless Cardinal clients have implemented this exact approach, and the behavioral consensus is almost always: "I never missed the money." Yet, the impact on their future is massive.

The average American assumes a standard nest egg will carry them through retirement. However, for many Cardinal Health leaders, a retirement investment portfolio requires significantly more capital to replace their current income. Falling short rarely happens from a lack of earnings; it happens from failing to systematically increase saving rates as income climbs.

Optimizing Bonus and Equity Windows

This season also brings key planning windows as Cardinal bonuses, RSUs, PSUs vest. Used intentionally, these cash-flow events are powerful accelerators.

If you have not yet capped your annual contribution allocations, consider mapping a portion of your cash bonus straight into your plan. The IRS guidelines dictate the following thresholds:

• Standard Elective Deferral Limit: $24,500.
• Standard Catch-Up Limit (Age 50+): An additional $8,000 (bringing the total allowable deferral to $32,500).
• Super Catch-Up Limit (Ages 60–63): An additional $11,250 in lieu of the standard catch-up (allowing up to $35,750), provided plan specifications align.

Planning Note for High Earners: Keep in mind that tax rules dictate that catch-up contributions for employees whose prior-year wages exceed $150,000 must be directed into a Roth account.

If you have already maxed out your core employer plan, equity and cash proceeds can be redirected to cleanly fund back-door Roth IRAs or build out highly liquid, taxable brokerage accounts. Whether your day-to-day is in operations, IT, HR, finance, or sales, the post-merit window is the perfect time to audit your trajectory. Is your current savings rate positioning you for ultimate career flexibility and peace of mind?

If you ever want to talk through your Cardinal benefits or your own situation, you’re welcome to schedule a relaxed Q&A. No cost, no pressure, and no expectation to meet again — just a chance to talk things through. CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE 

Take care and, as always, stay the course.