Wells Fargo Employee Benefits: 401(k), Life Insurance and More

401(k) Plan Beneficiaries

Your 401(k) represents years of hard work and saving, so making sure it goes to the right people matters. You can set up or modify your beneficiary by signing into the Wells Fargo 401(k) Plan website or by calling Empower Retirement at 1-877-HRWELLS, option 1, 1 to request a Beneficiary Designation Form by mail.

You have flexibility in who you name – it could be a person, trust, charity, or your estate. There are two types of beneficiaries worth understanding:

• Primary beneficiaries get your account first if you pass away
• Contingent beneficiaries only receive benefits if all your primary beneficiaries have passed away before you

If you name multiple primary beneficiaries and one passes away before you, the remaining primary beneficiaries will receive the benefits proportionally based on the percentages you assigned.

What happens if you don’t designate anyone? The plan has a default order:

1. Your surviving spouse or domestic partner
2. Your surviving biological and adopted children (with special provisions for descendants of deceased children)
3. Your surviving parents
4. Your surviving siblings
5. Your estate

Remember that your 401(k) beneficiary designation is completely separate from other Wells Fargo plans – updating one doesn’t update the others.

Life Insurance Plans

For Basic Term Life and Optional Term Life coverage, your beneficiary designations are managed through Workday. You’ll name beneficiaries when you first enroll, but you can change them anytime through Workday or by submitting a Group Life and Disability Plans Beneficiary Designation Form.

A few important points about life insurance beneficiaries:

• Changes take effect immediately when made in Workday or when Wells Fargo receives your form
• You can name a person, trust, or institution as beneficiary
• If you name a minor child, the proceeds go into a locked interest-bearing account until they turn 18
• If a primary beneficiary passes away after you but before receiving payment, their share goes to their estate
• The default beneficiary order is the same as the 401(k) plan if you don’t designate anyone

Business Travel Accident Plan

The BTA Plan covers accidents that happen while traveling for work. Your beneficiary designations work similarly to the life insurance plans – you can update them through Workday or by using the Group Life and Disability Plans Beneficiary Designation Form.

If you name multiple beneficiaries, the death benefit is shared equally among them unless you specify different percentages. If one beneficiary passes away before you, the surviving beneficiaries receive the death benefit.

Accidental Death & Dismemberment Plan

The AD&D Plan also follows similar beneficiary guidelines as the life insurance plans. You’ll designate beneficiaries in Workday when you enroll, and you can change them anytime through Workday or by submitting the Group Life and Disability Plans Beneficiary Designation Form.

One thing to note: if you’re not the biological or adoptive parent of your spouse’s or domestic partner’s child but want that child to receive benefits, you must specifically designate that child as your beneficiary.

Disability Plans with Survivor Benefits

Both the Short-Term Disability Plan and Long-Term Disability Plan include survivor benefits. If your beneficiary disagrees with the determination on your eligibility or the benefit amount, they have the right to request plan documents and information related to your case.

For payments to minor children, the administrator may make payment to an adult who has custody and is supporting the child.

Stock Purchase Plan

The Stock Purchase Plan has a default beneficiary order similar to other plans. To change this order or update a previous designation, complete a Wells Fargo Stock Purchase Plan Beneficiary Designation form, which you can get online through HR Services & Support or by phone at 1-877-HRWELLS (1-877-479-3557).

Critical Illness and Optional Accident Insurance Plans

For these plans, you can add or change beneficiaries through the MetLife website (metlife.com/mybenefits) or by calling MetLife to request a form. Changes take effect on the date you update your beneficiary on the MetLife site or when MetLife receives your completed form.

Health Plans

While not directly about beneficiaries, it’s worth noting that the Health Plan’s right of reimbursement and subrogation is binding upon your legal representative, heirs, and next of kin in the event of your death. This matters for any settlements or judgments related to medical expenses paid by the plan.

Key Takeaways for Managing Your Beneficiaries

1. Review regularly: Check your beneficiary designations periodically, especially after major life events like marriage, divorce, birth, or death in the family.
2. Keep separate records: Remember that each plan has its own beneficiary designation process – updating one doesn’t update them all.
3. Be specific about percentages: When naming multiple beneficiaries, clearly state how you want benefits distributed.
4. Consider special situations: For minor children or non-biological children, take extra steps to ensure your wishes are properly documented.
5. Know where to go: Each plan has specific methods for updating beneficiaries:
   • 401(k): Through the Wells Fargo 401(k) Plan website or Empower Retirement
   • Life, AD&D, BTA, STD: Through Workday or plan-specific forms
   • Critical Illness & Accident: Through the MetLife website or by phone
   • Stock Purchase Plan: Through a specific form available via HR Services & Support
6. Important contact information:

• 1-877-HRWELLS (1-877-479-3557)
• Wells Fargo 401(k) Plan website

Interested in Learning More?

We’ve developed a FREE email course designed to help you understand the key strategies you should be implementing to support a secure and successful retirement as a Wells Fargo employee.

It’s called the Wells Fargo Employee Retirement Blueprint, and you can access it here.