Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Was the 401(k) Revolution a Mistake?

I write about trends in retirement saving over at Forbes.

We can't know what the "right" level of retirement saving is for any given household. But the trends are toward more Americans saving more for retirement. If you're concerned about undersaving for retirement, the 401(k) revolution is looking to be a success.

Check it out here.

DOL -- retirement contributions as percent of wages

2 comments:

JoeTheEconomist said...

The question is whether you are measuring total contribution vs total payroll or the total contribution vs the payroll of people who are enrolled in a 401K.

If I am surprised by these figures it is because I have seen a number of companies withdraw their matching benefits. I think it is highly surprising to find that employees are increasing their commitment when employers are withdrawing theirs.

Can you tell me how the employer match is handled in this situation?

Thanks,

Andrew G. Biggs said...

The figures in that chart are relative to total payroll, which I think is the correct way to catch both participation and contribution rates.