We’ve been helping General Motors employees build and protect their retirement savings for over 35 years.
You’ve worked hard, and you know GM’s benefits well. What you may not have is a dedicated advisor who understands the GM Salaried Savings Plan the way you do, and who can help you make the most of what’s in it.
General Motors employees have been a core part of our client base since the firm’s earliest years.
Our advisors have worked with GM employees and retirees for over 35 years — from people still working in Michigan and across the country, to GM retirees weighing pension decisions and IRA rollovers.
We know the plan. We know the timeline. And we know the decisions that tend to come with a GM career.
Services for GM Employees
GM Salaried Savings Plan Management
The GM Salaried Savings Plan is a strong 401(k) by any standard — but a good plan is only as good as the strategy inside it. Many employees set their allocations once and leave them for years. Markets shift, risk tolerance changes, and a strategy that made sense at 40 may not fit at 55.
Our Savings Plan Management service is powered by Retirement Management Systems (RMS), a third-party registered investment adviser. Your Scarborough advisor works directly with you to assess suitability, build your investor profile, and help you select the model portfolio that fits your goals, timeline and risk tolerance. RMS constructs the model portfolios and executes the trades inside your plan.
- Personalized investment strategy within your existing GM Salaried Savings Plan
- Ongoing monitoring, rebalancing and allocation adjustments
- Contribution guidance designed to help you make the most of your savings rate
- Unlimited phone and email access to your dedicated advisor
- No need to move your account — we work within the plan you already have
- An annual review of your retirement readiness
Pricing: from $49.99 per month, based on account balance. See our full fee schedule.
401k Manager — Fidelity BrokerageLink®
The GM Salaried Savings Plan offers access to Fidelity BrokerageLink®, a self-directed brokerage account within the plan that opens up a much wider range of investments than the standard fund lineup.
For GM employees with larger balances — often those in their 50s with $200,000 or more in the plan — BrokerageLink® can be a useful tool for more tailored investment management. This service is managed by Scarborough directly. We act as your discretionary investment adviser for the assets held in your plan’s BrokerageLink® account, on the Fidelity platform.
- Access to BrokerageLink®‘s expanded investment options within your GM Salaried Savings Plan
- Active, advisor-led management, monitoring and rebalancing
- Often a good fit for GM employees with $200,000 or more in the plan and retirement approaching
- Your assets remain inside the GM plan — no rollover, no withdrawal, no tax event
- Full online access through Fidelity at all times
Pricing: $79.99 per month for balances up to $1 million; $119.99 per month above that.
GM Pension Analysis — Lump Sum or Monthly Benefit
General Motors has a long history of offering pension buyouts to both current employees and retirees. If you have a GM defined benefit pension, or GM has offered you a buyout, this is one of the more consequential and irreversible financial decisions you may face.
We’ve completed hundreds of pension analyses over 35+ years, including many for GM employees and retirees. We’ll model your specific situation — your age, health, other income, risk tolerance and legacy goals — and walk you through what each option would mean.
- Lump sum versus monthly benefit, modeled for your situation
- Breakeven analysis — at what point does one option overtake the other for you?
- Survivor benefit modeling, to help protect your spouse’s income
- Tax implications of each option
- IRA rollover strategy if you take the lump sum
- Coordination with your GM Salaried Savings Plan, Social Security and broader plan
If you have received or expect to receive a pension buyout offer from GM, it’s worth talking to someone before you decide.
IRA Rollover and Wealth Management at Retirement
When you retire from GM, one of the larger decisions is what to do with your Salaried Savings Plan. Rolling it into a managed IRA is a common choice, and it generally offers more flexibility, broader investment access, and the ability to work with an advisor who continues managing the account.
For GM clients who started with us through Savings Plan Management or 401k Manager, this transition tends to be straightforward. We already know your financial picture, and BrokerageLink® holdings can often move directly into a managed IRA on the Fidelity platform.
How we’re paid, and why it matters here
If you roll into an IRA that we manage, we’re generally paid approximately 1% of assets per year — more than the flat monthly fee under our plan management services. That difference gives us a financial incentive to recommend a rollover, which is a conflict of interest, and we’d rather tell you plainly than have you find it later.
When we advise you on your retirement plan or IRA, we act as a fiduciary under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. We’ll walk you through every option — leaving it in the plan, moving it to a new employer’s plan, rolling to an IRA, or taking a distribution — including the ones that pay us less.
Why GM Employees Choose Scarborough
We know the GM Salaried Savings Plan.
The fund lineup, the BrokerageLink® structure, the contribution rules and the pension system. You don’t have to explain your benefits to us.
We’ve been through GM pension buyouts before.
If and when GM offers a buyout, we’ve seen it before — many times. We know which questions to ask.
Your advisor stays with you.
You’re not passed between teams as your account grows. The advisor who helps with your Savings Plan is generally the same advisor who manages your IRA in retirement.
We understand what a GM career looks like.
Profit sharing, stock programs, pension accruals, plan structures that have changed over the years — we’ve seen how they fit together.
Frequently Asked Questions
It currently does. BrokerageLink® provides access to a broader range of investments than the plan’s standard fund lineup. Our 401k Manager service is built for GM employees who want advisor management within BrokerageLink®. Contact us and we can confirm your specific plan eligibility.
Yes. Both our Savings Plan Management and 401k Manager services work within your existing GM Salaried Savings Plan. There’s no rollover, no withdrawal and no tax event. Your assets stay inside the GM plan.
The firm was founded in 1989, and General Motors employees have been a core part of our client base since the earliest years. Our founder built relationships within GM over decades, and those have continued under our current Managing Partners. We serve GM employees in Michigan and across the country.
There’s no universal answer — it generally depends on your age, health, other income sources, risk tolerance and family situation. What we can tell you is that we’ve completed hundreds of these analyses, including many for GM employees and retirees. Schedule a free consultation and we’ll build the analysis for your situation.
You generally have several options: leave it in the plan, roll it into an IRA, move it to a new employer’s plan if you’re still working, or take a distribution — usually the costliest, because of taxes.
One note on our incentives: if you roll into an IRA we manage, we’re generally paid more than under our plan management services. That’s a conflict of interest, and we’ll walk you through all the options, including the ones that pay us less.
Yes. Many of our GM clients came to us after retirement — to manage an IRA rollover, to work through a pension buyout decision, or to build a retirement income plan.
No. Scarborough Capital Management is an independent Registered Investment Adviser with no affiliation with General Motors or any of its benefit programs. We serve GM employees as individual clients. Our services do not imply any endorsement or affiliation with GM. The GM Salaried Savings Plan and Fidelity BrokerageLink® are referenced because our advisors have extensive experience working with these specific plans.
Ready to get more from your GM savings plan?
Schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with a Scarborough advisor. We’ll review your GM Salaried Savings Plan, walk through your options — including BrokerageLink® — and help you build a plan for the retirement you’ve worked toward.
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Scarborough Capital Management’s services for employees of General Motors do not imply endorsement or affiliation with General Motors or any of its subsidiaries. The GM Salaried Savings Plan, Fidelity BrokerageLink®, and other plan and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Advisory services offered through Scarborough Capital Management, a federally registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Investing involves risk including possible loss of principal.