Financial and Legal Benefits
401(k) Retirement Plan
LAIKA’s 401(k) plan is administered through Fidelity Investments. If you would like financial planning assistance, you can reach out to Fidelity at 866-602-0636.
A 401(k) is a type of retirement plan that allows employees to save and invest for their own retirement. You can authorize LAIKA to deduct a certain percentage of eligible earnings from your paycheck to contribute to the 401(k) plan. You can invest your money in a variety of options from bonds to domestic and international equities to target date retirement funds that vary in risk based on your age. While the plan has tax advantages, it is a retirement benefit. Withdrawing money from the plan before retirement will result in tax penalties.
The LAIKA 401(k) plan allows you to contribute through two different types of deductions: traditional pre-tax 401(k) deductions and Roth 401(k) deductions. You can decide what percentage of each type you’d like to contribute or a combination of both, up to the legal maximum (the IRS sets an annual dollar limit). Traditional pre-tax contributions are deducted before taxes, while Roth contributions are made after-tax. Roth contributions, however, are not taxed when you withdraw funds at retirement. Traditional contributions and associated earnings are taxed at retirement. Once you access your account, you’ll also notice that you can make after-tax contributions. If you are considering this option, please reach out to benefits@laika.com first. After-tax contributions are not matched and are not beneficial for most employees.
LAIKA automatically enrolls all newly hired and rehired employees in a Traditional Pre-Tax 401(k) account at 6% of their bi-weekly pay approximately 30 days after their hire date. This increases by 1% each year. You may stop/start/change your 401(k) percentage and investments at any time during your employment at LAIKA.
LAIKA also matches 50% of the first 6% of 401(k) contributions to your 401(k) account on a per pay period basis!
Questions? Need more information? Email benefits@laika.com.
Because matching contributions are made each pay period, if you reach the IRS contribution limit before your last paycheck, you may miss out on some matching contributions. For example, if you reached the contribution limit at the end of October, then you were not able to make contributions in November and December and did not receive matching contributions for those pay periods.
As we enter the new year, please consider planning out your 401(k) contributions to take full advantage of the LAIKA match. Financial advisors at Addition Wealth are available to provide additional guidance. You can reach them by visiting https://www.additionwealth.com/.
Changes to your deduction percentage can be made by logging in to your Fidelity 401(k) account at: https://www.401k.com.
To change your participation in the LAIKA 401(k) plan:
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Log in at https://www.401k.com
- If you do not yet have an account, click on the word "Register" on the black bar at the top of the page.
- If you have an account with Fidelity, even if it is an old account with a former employer, use your regular login. You should see a link to the LAIKA plan.
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You will then be able to click on Contributions > Contribution Amount.
- To opt-out of the plan, choose 0% for all contributions.
- Otherwise, enter your percentage election of choice.
Addition Wealth
As part of LAIKA’s ongoing commitment to offering benefits that support our employees in all phases of their life, LAIKA has partnered with Addition Wealth to provide you with the tools and resources to help navigate all your personal finance decisions. Addition offers unlimited free sessions with financial professionals, online content on various finance-related topics, webinars and events, and much more on Addition’s online platform. Whether you are looking for the best strategy for tax withholding from your paycheck, considering buying a home, looking to pay off loans, or having a game plan for saving and budgeting, Addition is there to support you! In addition to personalized support, Addition will be rolling out webinars on a steady cadence for LAIKA employees with content you want to see based on your feedback.
In addition to a robust financial wellness benefit, with ongoing access to Certified Financial Planners (CFPs) and Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), LAIKA is partnering with Addition and piloting a free tax filing benefit in 2023 for the tax year 2022. By offering these tax services, LAIKA looks to take the burden of tax planning and tax filing off LAIKA employees with easy, personalized, and free tax filing supported by Addition’s financial professionals.
How to Access Addition Wealth
- Head to app.additionwealth.com
- Click "Sign Up"
- Click "My Employer Offers Addition"
- Your Work Email Address: Fill in an @laika.com email address
- Employer Code: Fill in "LAIKA1”
- Fill in your personal information (Name, Personal Email, Password, Phone)
Rocket Lawyer Legal Benefit
Whether you’re starting a family, buying a home, working through a landlord dispute, or planning your estate, Rocket Lawyer Legal Benefits can help!
Get Started at: go.rocketlawyer.com/laika
You now have access to the following legal benefits free of charge:
- Legal Documents Library: Employees can access Rocket Lawyer’s online legal document library (e.g., Trust, Power of Attorney, Lease, Child Care Authorization Form).
- Attorney Q&A: Employees can submit legal questions on Rocket Lawyer’s legal platform and receive answers back from an attorney with an approximate 24-hour turnaround.
- Attorney Phone Consultations: Employees will receive free 30-minute phone consultations with a Rocket Lawyer attorney, on every new legal matter. If further assistance is needed, LAIKA employees will receive a 40% discount off the attorney’s hourly billing rate, after the 30-minute free consult if they would like to continue working with the assigned attorney.