Withdrawals

Q. Can I withdraw money from my Savings Plan Account while I am an employee?

A. Here is a summary of the basics of Savings Plan withdrawals:

• Two withdrawals are permitted in the same calendar year from your regular after-tax contributions.  In-plan Roth conversions do not count against this two-withdrawal per year limit.
• Hardship withdrawals of before-tax or Roth 401(k) contributions are available for pre-defined hardship cases.
• No withdrawal is allowed from your Roth Rollover Account.
• Withdrawals are available in cash or shares of ExxonMobil stock.
• The amount of a withdrawal may be limited by the amount of any outstanding loans.

A withdrawal is a transaction by which you elect to receive a portion of your account. Generally, you are eligible to take a withdrawal if you have an amount available for withdrawal in your account, or if you have a specified hardship condition.

If you have an amount available for withdrawal in your account, you can withdraw a portion or all of that amount even after you terminate employment. Withdrawals differ from partial distributions in that partial distributions are available only to retirees.  

After-tax withdrawals

Frequency

You generally may make a withdrawal from regular after-tax contributions twice during a calendar year.

However, if you are an active employee who realizes a gain in the course of selling any investment in your General Account and/or After-Tax Account, you may withdraw up to the amount of such gain. This withdrawal type does not count towards the two times per calendar year limitation. Such a withdrawal is still subject to all of the other rules and conditions for withdrawals, such as the limitation on the amount that may be withdrawn.

Tax implications

There may be important tax implications of making withdrawals from your account. Please refer to the Tax considerations section.

Amount of withdrawal

Your amount available for withdrawal consists of (1) your "Pre-1987 After-Tax Contributions" balance (if any) plus (2) your "Post-1986 After-Tax Contributions" balance.

• To minimize your current tax liability, your Pre-1987 After-Tax Contributions balance, if any, will be withdrawn first. This is your remaining pre-1987 after-tax contributions in the General Account. There is no federal tax liability on withdrawals of pre-1987 contributions.
• Once your pre-1987 after-tax contributions are exhausted, your Post-1986 After-Tax Contributions balance, equal to the amount of your total contributions to the After-Tax Account minus any previous withdrawals, will be available for withdrawal. A part of each post-1986 after-tax withdrawal is taxable.
• Please refer to the Tax considerations section.

Withdrawal payments

Withdrawals are available in cash or stock, or a combination of both.

Cash Withdrawal (when withdrawal is all from the After-Tax Account)

• When you elect a cash withdrawal, it will be funded as follows:

- Common Assets will be liquidated up to the withdrawal amount requested

- If there are insufficient Common Assets to fund the withdrawal, then indexed funds will be sold on a pro-rata basis across all indexed funds in your After-Tax Account

- If, after liquidating all indexed funds, there is still insufficient cash to fund the withdrawal, then shares of ExxonMobil stock in your After-Tax Account will be sold, from high to low cost basis, to make up the remaining amount.

• If there are particular indexed funds in your After-Tax Account you do not wish to be sold, then you need to take action to ensure that you have sufficient Common Assets prior to requesting a withdrawal.

NOTE for those with a Pre-1987 After-Tax Contributions Balance:

• For the minority of participants who have a Pre-1987 After-Tax Contributions balance, the funding sequence will be as follows, up to the lesser of the amount of the withdrawal request or your Pre-1987 After-Tax Contributions balance:

1. Common Assets in your General Account

2. Indexed funds in your General Account, sold on a pro-rata basis

3. ExxonMobil stock, sold from high to low cost basis

• If your Pre-1987 After-Tax Contributions balance is less than the amount of your withdrawal request, the funding sequence for the remaining withdrawal balance will be as follows, up to the lesser of the amount of the remaining withdrawal request or your Post-1986 After-Tax Contributions balance:

1. Common Assets in your After-Tax Account

2. Indexed funds in your After-Tax Account, sold on a pro-rata basis

3. ExxonMobil stock, sold from high to low cost basis

Stock withdrawal

If you elect to receive part or all of your withdrawal in stock, the Trustee will distribute to you the number of shares of stock you elect to receive first from the General Account, if you have a Pre-1987 After-Tax Contributions balance, and then from the After-Tax Account. When you withdraw stock from your account, your amount available for withdrawal is reduced by either the cost of the stock or the market price on the date of withdrawal, whichever is lower. There are important tax implications of withdrawing stock (see the Tax considerations section).

Amounts converted to the Roth Conversion Account

Any portion of your withdrawal balance that is converted to the Roth Conversion Account remains available for withdrawal. If you need information about withdrawals from the Roth Conversion Account, contact a Customer Service Associate via the STS.

Encumbered balances

If your General Account was encumbered by a loan on December 31, 1986, special tax provisions may apply. If you need information about these provisions, contact a Customer Service Associate via the STS. 

Withdrawal limit for accounts in existence for less than 5 years

If your Savings Plan Account has existed for less than five years, the combined balance at cost in your After-Tax Account and General Account must at least equal the company match plus your After-Tax Account payroll contributions (up to 6% of pay) made during the two years before the withdrawal. If you make a withdrawal that causes your balance to fall below this limit, your contributions and the company match will be suspended for six months.

Hardship withdrawals from the Before-Tax and Roth 401(k) Accounts

A hardship withdrawal from the Before-Tax and Roth 401(k) Accounts is permitted for employees if the eligibility requirements for a hardship withdrawal are met. Effective January 1, 2019:

1) To demonstrate hardship, you must first exhaust all avenues of funds other than Plan loans.

• 100% direct dividend payment election; and
• any other withdrawals allowed.

2) A hardship withdrawal is limited to the sum of your Before-Tax Account balance and Roth 401(k) Account balance. Any portion of your Before-Tax Account balance that is converted to the Roth Conversion Account will remain available for hardship withdrawal.

3) A hardship withdrawal will no longer trigger a six-month suspension of employee contributions.

The two times per year limit on withdrawals does not apply. The following circumstances meet the definition for hardship:

• Unreimbursed medical expenses for you or your spouse, children or dependents.
• Funeral expenses for your deceased parent, spouse, children or dependents.
• Tuition, room and board expenses for the next 12 months of post-secondary school education for you or your spouse, children or dependents.
• Payments to prevent eviction of a participant from or foreclosure on the mortgage on the participant's principal residence.

For more information on applying for a hardship withdrawal, please contact a Customer Service Associate via the STS.