Early results suggest that efforts to encourage employers to enroll workers in 401(k) plans by default is increasing savings without angering the workers.
Researchers at Fidelity Investments, Boston, and Retirement Made Simpler, Washington – a coalition of the AARP, Washington; the Retirement Security Project, Washington; and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority – made that case today in summaries of the findings from two separate surveys.
The researchers were investigating the effects of recent changes in retirement laws that encourage employers to enroll employees in 401(k) plans automatically without requiring employees to take active steps to join the plans.
Pollsters commissioned by the Retirement Made Simpler team used the Internet in September and early October to interview 10,130 U.S. adults, including 696 who were automatically enrolled in 401(k) plans and 48 who had opted out of automatic 401(k) plans.
About 98% of U.S. adults now enrolled in automatic 401(k) plans said they are glad their companies offer this savings vehicle, the coalition researchers report.