Telsa offers a 401(k) retirement savings plan for its 60,000+ employees. Employees can choose to contribute a portion of their pre-tax or after-tax income to the plan. But how do Tesla employees invest for retirement?
A 401(k) retirement savings plan is a type of defined contribution plan. The Tesla plan allows for matching contributions, but Tesla did not make any during 2021.
Form 5500 lists the investments Tesla 401(k) plan participants selected for their retirement funds. Giving us insight into how Tesla employees choose to invest for retirement.
401(k) plan sponsors are required to file Form 5500 with the Department of Labor each year.
So, what do Tesla employees invest in?
The first thing to note is that they don’t directly invest in shares of Tesla stock.
As opposed to some other tech companies (e.g., Amazon), Tesla doesn’t appear to offer their own shares as an investment option.
Target date retirement funds account for the majority of Tesla employee’s retirement investments.
These funds are designed to shift their holdings as the target retirement year approaches. They gradually shift to more bonds and fewer equities. In other words, they become more conservative as time passes.
The largest of these holdings is the T. Rowe Price Retirement 2055, designed for people planning to retire around the year 2055.
Target retirement funds occupy 8 of the top 10 holdings.
Coming in fourth place—at 9% of plan assets—is the Fidelity 500 Index Fund. This fund tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Index, representing around 500 of the largest companies in the United States—a great choice for a core investment holding.
The Fidelity Contrafund Funds round out the top 10 holdings. Coming in at 8th place.
Plan assets as of 12/31/2021
(from Tesla’s 2022 filing of Form 5500)
| Top 10 Investments | % |
| T. Rowe Price Retirement 2055 | 15% |
| T. Rowe Price Retirement 2050 | 14% |
| T. Rowe Price Retirement 2045 | 10% |
| Fidelity 500 Index Fund | 9% |
| T. Rowe Price Retirement 2060 | 9% |
| T. Rowe Price Retirement 2040 | 7% |
| T. Rowe Price Retirement 2035 | 6% |
| Fidelity Contrafund Fund | 5% |
| T. Rowe Price Retirement 2030 | 5% |
| T. Rowe Price Retirement 2025 | 3% |
See the Tesla 401(k) page for additional plan details and value of holdings.
Tesla’s Retirement Distribution
The distribution of assets in T. Rowe Price (TRP) Target Retirement funds—which represent nearly two-thirds of total plan assets—provide a rough view of participating employee ages.
The largest holdings are in the Retirement 2055 and 2050 target funds. These investments should represent employees who plan to retire in the next 25 to 30+ years.
Source: 2021 Form 5500 for Tesla’s 401k plan
