fred's blog

by John Papadopulos, President of Wells Fargo Retirement

One way to explain the realities of today's financial world to perplexed clients comes from an unexpected source: the often-quoted Yogi Berra. He is credited with saying, "The future ain't what it used to be."

Industry insiders may not be surprised to hear that many automatically-enrolled 401(k) participants are not deferring enough. A report released today from the Government Accountability Office postulates that as automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans becomes more common, some participants are not putting enough money in those plans.

Participants are none too pleased with the level of retirement plan support they receive (or don't) from their employers, according to a new study released Monday by Greenwald & Associates. The authors of the study, “The First Annual 401(k) Participant Experience Study”, found that one in five employees are dissatisfied with the current support they receive.

Nationwide on Tuesday released findings from its research that show that a significant number of people who were actively planning for retirement before the recession are disengaging from the process.

401k Enrollment – How Was Your Experience?

There is a great deal of talk these days about how employees are going to be Auto-Enrolled into their 401k plans. One day they are out of the plan, then the next day, bam, they in the plan with their 401k deferrals being defaulted into predetermined funds, their retirement accounts growing nicely, and everybody happy. Although this might be the vision for some, most employees are still required to enroll to get into their 401k plan.

Did you go to the meeting?