retirement

Depending on years to go before retirement, the 7% seems to be the better because you get more money invested sooner rather than later but you should do the math to confirm. You didn’t mention if the pensions are defined benefits or defined contribution. There is a big difference between those two.

With 25 years to go, maybe the 10% will catch up. Pension benefits should be compared. If they are both decent benefits and you max out the 401k, you should have a comfortable retirement with either one. There are probably other important factors not related to retirement benefits that should weigh more on determining which job to take.

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Which job will make you happier? Which job has the shortest commute?

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shite, you're going that far, OP didn't say anything about salary difference and career advancement potential

At the personal level (and without knowing other details that might be relevant) you should work for the company with a good work environment and other good quality of life benefits.

On a financial level (and assuming other things like benefits and take home salary are similar) there's a big difference between getting an extra 4.5% for six years. It would be great if you knew Company B was the only place you wanted to ever work and they would be financially stable for 25 plus years but I don't know how anyone could be confident about those things.

Knowing only the information you provided it sounds like Company A is the better financial return for you as an employee.

We're dealing with limited information but even if the salary is something like 80k the extra 4.5% plus compounding adds up quickly and you can't retroactively put more employer contribution money into your 2019 401k five years from now

I don't love the idea of chasing good benefits after putting in a decade of service. That makes you emotionally vulnerable to sticking it out in a job with worse compensation because you feel like you already lost money that you need to get back.

Companies often don't look at employees the same way. Your ability to move up the ladder varies enormously from place to place and if you want to be equally cold about the decision you should insist on the best possible pay and benefits as soon as you can get them. The OP has no guarantee he will be working there seven years from now

All the other comments hit on what I was thinking too, but something you said regarding you were 25 and had been working for 6 years... It illustrates you may ultimately change jobs again before this is over.

And to make this even muddier... Shell has awesome 401k options, what does the other company have? If your returns aren't going to be equal, that's going to be quite the spreadsheet!!

Good times.