Survey Finds Increased Efforts to Save for Retirement

September 2, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s latest 401(k) Contribution Activities Scorecard shows that as of June 30, 2011, nearly 1.5 million participants are actively contributing to their 401(k) plans.

Nearly 142,000 employees took a positive savings action (started or increased contributions) in their 401(k) plan accounts in Q2 2011, compared to approximately 101,000 in Q2 2010. Year-to-date, over 359,000 employees have taken positive savings actions through end of Q2 2011, compared to approximately 233,000 through end of Q2 2010.   

Among all plan participants who took some type of savings action during Q2 2011, 72% took a positive action (started or increased contributions), versus 28% who took a negative action (stopped or decreased contributions) – compared to 68% and 32% during Q2 2010, respectively.   

The percentage of employees who started contributing to their plan in Q2 2011 was three percentage points higher than those who took this action in Q2 2010, and five percentage points higher through the first half of 2011 compared to the same timeframe in 2010. In addition, Bank of America Merrill Lynch found, the percentage of plan participants who increased their contribution rate in Q2 2011 was two percentage points higher than those who took this action in Q2 2010, and three percentage points higher through the first half of 2011 compared to the same timeframe in 2010.