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Most 401(k) Participants Don't Know How Much They Contribute

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The majority of 401(k) participants are clueless when it comes to the amount they contribute to their retirement plans but the majority of plan sponsors feel more, ongoing education updates could help the uninformed. This, according to a new survey from ICC Plan Solutions, a provider of...

By Michelle A. Samaad | Updated on January 20, 2004

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The majority of 401(k) participants are clueless when it comes to the amount they contribute to their retirement plans but the majority of plan sponsors feel more, ongoing education updates could help the uninformed. This, according to a new survey from ICC Plan Solutions, a provider of investment education program to retirement plan sponsors. The firm surveyed more than 300 sponsors to gather feedback on building more investor-friendly education programs. Roughly 73.8% said their participants need help with basic investing knowledge. Trying to decipher their 401(k) statements is a struggle for 35% of employees, the sponsors said. In a separate ICC Plan online survey of 1,200 401(k) participants, when asked what percentage of your paycheck do you currently defer into your retirement savings, 51% admitted they have no idea, 21% said they contribute between 5% and 9% and only 1% stash away 10% or more to their plan. “From our experience, we suspected the percentage of those who did not know would be high,” said Doug Hall, president of ICC Plan Solutions. “We never believed, however, that over 50% would admit to having no clue what they contribute out of their paycheck.” When asked what they considered the most important factors for an education/communication program, the sponsors’ top five responses were: 90.5% – ease of implementation 85.7% – explain how to establish retirement goals; 83.3% – provide basic knowledge of investing; 82% – explain specific investments available in the plan; 81% – on-going updates and participant support. More than one answers permitted. Hall said only 5% of sponsors surveyed claimed to be concerned with the cost to implement a comprehensive education program to their participants. [email protected]

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