Companies Allow Higher 401(k) Contributions

May 10, 2010 — Sixty-eight percent of employers reported that their company allows 401(k) participants to contribute 25% or more of their earnings, according to a survey by BLR. —

The latest data represents a significant increase over the 58% of organizations that allowed such contribution levels in late 2006, the survey found.

While 22% of responding employers do not match employee 401(k) contributions, 32% match between 2% and 4% of salary, and 33% match up to 6%. Of those organizations that match 401(k) contributions, most (59%) match at least $0.50 cents on each dollar contributed.

The November 2009 survey received more than 1,000 responses, of which 75% originated from companies with fewer than 500 employees. The responses were evenly divided geographically within the United States.
Fred Schneyer