401(k)’s a boon to low-income workers
Automatic escalation will increase 401(k) accumulations by up to 28% in the lowest income group, says a study.
A study released today by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute shows that the Pension Protection Act of 2006 will result in a significant increase in 401(k) accumulations — particularly for low-income workers.
The study predicts that the automatic escalation will increase 401(k) accumulations by 11% to 28% for participants in the lowest income group and 5% to 12% for participants in the highest income group.
The legislation allows employers to automatically enroll workers in the company’s 401(k) plan and to automatically increase a worker’s 401(k) contribution to coincide with a raise or a work anniversary — though the employee can decline both enrollment and the increase.
These findings “suggest that the introduction of automatic escalation will result in a significant increase of 401(k) accumulations — especially for low-income workers — compared with estimates previously determined for automatic enrollment,” according to the analysis.
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