Deloitte Releases Annual Survey of 401k Plans

401(k) Annual Benchmarking Survey: 2009 Edition

Some major findings of the survey:

• 17 percent of plan providers surveyed indicated an uptick in deferral rate changes, hardship withdrawals, loans, and other similar activities.
• A third (38 percent) reported their employees decreased their deferral rates for 2009, with the majority (60 percent) holding steady at their current level of contribution.
• 12 percent of employers surveyed indicated an upswing in opt-outs from auto-enrollment programs.
• Almost one-fifth (19 percent, up 2 percentage points from last year) of plan sponsors believe “very few” of their employees will be financially prepared for retirement.
• More than three-quarters (79 percent) of employers surveyed are still fairly confident that their plan is effective for recruiting talent, and 68 percent say it helps with retention.

Read survey.