Principal Finds Sentiment for Auto-Enrollment

Fifty-nine percent of employees feel they should be automatically entered into their 401(k) retirement plan and a standard deferral rate program, according to the latest Principal Financial Well Being Index, which found that an increasing number of employees were contributing to retirement plans because of a “do-it-for-me” strategy.

The 59% is a substantial jump from 2002, when 35% of employees agreed with the notion of automatic enrollment.

“Employees have long been yearning for simplification and do-it-for-me solutions to retirement investing,” said Dan Houston, the executive VP of The Principal’s Retirement and Income Services, in a statement. “The good news is that in the short period that automatic solutions have been available, we are beginning to see employees’ savings and investing behaviors improve as a result of these programs.”