Welcome to Athena, a pooled 401(k) that brings women-owned businesses together to lower costs, reduce fiduciary burden, and unlock investment access typically reserved for large corporations.
Women entrepreneurs face unique retirement challenges, smaller average team sizes, longer life expectancy, and persistent wealth gaps. Athena was built to address those realities through pooled scale and shared fiduciary strength.
Employers | 401k | Employees
Tailored Solutions For Every Stage
Key Benefits
We handle the heavy lifting of compliance, record-keeping, and trustee duties.
Leverage the collective buying power of the Athena network to access lower fees than standalone plans.
Reduce your taxable income while helping your employees save.
Attract and keep top-tier talent by offering a competitive, high-value benefits package.
Key Benefits
Manage contributions and view growth through an intuitive, easy-to-use digital portal.
Access educational resources designed to build confidence in financial decision-making.
Choose from a curated selection of funds that align with personal risk tolerance and goals.
Build a nest egg that belongs to you, supporting your long-term financial independence.
How It Works:
Our digital onboarding process gets your company set up quickly with minimal paperwork.
Our digital onboarding process gets your company set up quickly with minimal paperwork.
We support your team with educational webinars and simple enrollment tools to get everyone participating.
Automated contributions flow seamlessly, and quarterly reports keep everyone informed on their progress.
Women built their businesses differently. We got together and said: Why should their retirement plans look like everyone else’s? Athena 401K is designed to give you access at the earliest stages of your entrepreneurial journey and in a way that is designed for you.
The Athena 401K is mission-driven. We believe that when women build wealth, communities thrive. A portion of our program proceeds is reinvested into initiatives at the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio that support women's entrepreneurship and financial literacy - or for those plans outside of Central Ohio, investments in women and girls will be made in those geographic areas. By choosing Athena, you aren't just saving for retirement; you are closing the gender wealth gap and fueling a ecosystem of empowerment. Join a network of leaders committed to financial equality and sustainable business growth.
Athena 401k
We built Athena to more efficiently maximize our employees' hard-earned savings -- while benefitting programs for women and girls in the communities in which we live.
Read the Athena Origin Story
Please find answers to your questions below. If you are unable to locate the information you require, kindly contact us.
Every 6 years, every plan has to be reinstated for new legislation/laws/updates. Mandated last in 2020, so plans will see re-instatement in 2026. Instead of taking a large hit of $1750 all at once, we recommend spreading it out monthly ($20).
It’s immediately placed on watch and reviewed in writing. Two bad quarters trigger escalation; four quarters (or a major event) typically prompt replacement—no lag, no excuses.
Yes. You choose your match formula, eligibility rules, and vesting schedule. We’ll benchmark and adjust annually to keep it competitive and compliant.
Every plan supports The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio, channeling advisor commissions into programs that advance women’s and girls’ economic opportunity— your benefits plan becomes part of a bigger purpose.
Online and mobile access through Vestwell or Voya. They can view balances, change contributions, and get personalized projections—all in a clean, modern experience.
Just the basics—approve the plan, review reports, and remit contributions on time.
The rest—investment oversight, compliance, and fiduciary management—is handled for you.
Yes, as long as they qualify as adopting employers under the plan. We’ve built the framework to make that process easy.
You get a dedicated relationship manager backed by the Smooth401k service team, your 3(16) administrator for operations, and recordkeeper support for employees.
Yes. We integrate with most major providers—ADP, Paycor, Paychex, iSolved, and others—so payroll and contributions stay automated and accurate.
A streamlined, professionally curated lineup including:
• Target-date funds
• Risk-based portfolios
• Optional managed accounts for personalized advice
Contact Us
We look forward to talkng with you. Please fill out the form, or email diretly to Contact@athena401k.com
