HMM. I DON’T THINK I LIKE THIS: Goodbye match, hello retirement benefit account? What IBM 401(k) change means. “Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, companies must fund 401(k) matches with real dollars. If IBM’s ‘credit’ is just that, with ‘no cash in there, and it’s just listed on the books, if something bad happens, and IBM couldn’t make good on its liabilities,’ employees would be on the hook, Hulme said.”