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EBRI Policy Forum: Defined Contribution Plans in a Post-PPA Environment

Nearly two years after the Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2006 became law, the legislation’s “automatic” provisions—automatically enrolling new workers in their employers’ 401(k) plans, automatically putting their contributions into age-appropriate “default” investments, and automatically increasing their annual contributions—are beginning to have the desired effect, according to speakers at EBRI's semi-annual policy forum. Press release EBRI Notes Jul 10, 2008 12 pages

The Impact of PPA on Retirement Savings for 401(k) Participants

A new EBRI analysis finds that the “automatic” 401(k) features in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA)—such as auto-enrollment of workers and auto-escalation of their savings contributions—are likely to have a very significant positive impact in generating additional retirement savings for many workers, especially for low-income workers. EBRI Issue Brief Jun 27, 2008 24 pages

'Benefit Cost Comparisons Between State and Local Governments and Private-Sector Employers' and 'The Number of Individual Account Retirement Plans Owned by American Families'

'Benefit Cost Comparisons:' State and local government employers and private-sector employers have sharply different compensation costs, driven by the different nature of public- vs. private-sector work. Press release   'Individual Accounts': Half of families in the United States do not own an individual account retirement plan at all, but of those that do own at least one plan, most own only one. EBRI Notes Jun 17, 2008 12 pages

Savings Needed to Fund Health Insurance and Health Care Expenses in Retirement: Findings from a Simulation Model

This Issue Brief examines the uncertainty of health care expenses in retirement by using a Monte Carlo simulation model to estimate the amount of savings needed to cover health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket health care expenses. This type of simulation is able to account for the uncertainty related to individual mortality and rates of return, and computes the present value of the savings needed to cover health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses in retirement. These observations were used to determine asset targets for having adequate savings to cover retiree health costs 50, 75, and 90 percent of the time. Press release  EBRI Issue Brief May 30, 2008 28 pages