Attention 401k lovers!!!

Want to win 1000 bucks!? It’s time to enter the 3rd annual 401(k) Champion Award competition! Three $1,000 prizes will be awarded to 401(k) participants who complete an application and essay about their 401(k) experiences by Oct 28.

Now I know you might be thinking… “I never win anything and my chances are pretty low.”…

Well, first of all, that’s what EVERYONE else is thinking. So just filling out the form puts you ahead of 95% of people who won’t enter at all.

And secondly, last year, 2 out of the 3 winners were Budgets Are Sexy readers!! Yes, you read that right. That’s how niche this awesome little competition is. It’s for money nerds who love their 401ks and encourage all their friends to invest in them, too — which I know you all do!

This year nothing would make me happier than if all 3 out of 3 winners were from our community… EACH winner gets $1,000. So, here’s how to enter and more info on the competition.

401(k) Champion® Award

Below is a quick overview of the competition, along with more details on how to make your application stand out.

Official website: Apply to be a 401k champion here

Entry deadline: October 28 at midnight Eastern  (next Thursday)

Participant criteria:  You must be 21, live in one of the 50 U.S. states, and contribute to your workplace 401k plan (sorry, no 403b or other plans 😢) Official rules here.

Finalists announced:  November 9

WINNERS (3x) announced:  November 19!

And a massive thank you to Julie Jason who is the sponsor for this award and founder of Jackson, Grant Investment Advisers, Inc.

How to Submit Your Application

The application form is basically ~10 questions, most of which are just your contact info and details about your 401k…

But questions 8 & 9 are the most important!! These are “essay” questions that should be filled out with your best explanation possible. Take your time and make them good answers!

Question 8: If you were to advise co-workers about why they should contribute to (and/or maximize) their 401(k)s, what would you say? This is your chance to tell your story about why you “love” your 401(k). If your 401(k) plan has a match, be sure to explain how the match affects your participation, if at all.

Question 9: What actions have you taken to inspire non-participants to participate in the 401(k)? Please explain, being as specific and detailed as possible.

A panel of judges will determine the winners based mostly on the essay questions. The judging criteria is listed inside the application, so make sure you review it fully to be sure your answers meet all the points.

Here are last year’s champions and links to their winning essays! This is what good looks like. 😉

Purpose of the 401(k) Champion® Award

I forgot to mention… Neither myself nor this blog is associated with the award sponsors. We are just really excited to promote this because their core mission and purpose aligns with ours in the personal finance community!

Here’s why the 401k Champion Award exists…

• To energize 401(k) participants to learn more about 401(k)s
• To identify and share the stories of 401(k) Champions  
• To encourage a dialogue about 401(k)s and retirement security
• To help employers share their 401(k) benefits to employees

One of my biggest money regrets is not contributing to my 401k earlier in my career. Instead, I kept all of my after-tax savings in a checking account while I saved up for dumb real estate investments. I took the hard route, unnecessarily. And now I’m spending my later career years trying to reverse that silly mistake and to stuff as much money into my solo 401k as possible.

I wish I had learned more about retirement plans when I was younger. I wish it had been more openly talked about in my offices!

Competition aside, we should all be talking about and promoting our 401ks more. Don’t you think?

Alright, time to get to it my friends —> Apply here.

And if you do submit an application, I genuinely am interested in reading it. Care to forward it to me?

Have a wicked week!
Joel