More involved. Those are the watchwords for many employers when it comes to their 401(k) retirements plans, according to a recent article in “U.S. News and World Report”. During 2010, many companies plan to update the way they deal with their plans in at least six main ways, which include:

• Automatic enrollment: Enrolling employees once they become eligible to participate, but with the ability for the employee to opt out
• Automatic escalation and rebalancing: Increasing participant contributions, as well as shifting asset allocations, over time
• More investment guidance: Using online tools, better investment education and managed accounts
• Add a Roth 401(k): The ability to make after-tax contributions with tax-free withdrawals (if certain conditions are met)
• Offer annuities: There is a growing interest by participants for a guaranteed stream of retirement income that annuities would seem to offer
• Resume the 401(k) match: About 80 percent of companies that recently suspended employer matching contributions plan to reinstate them this year

NADART retirement plans offer a number of features, including automatic enrollment, Roth 401(k) Contributions and online investment guidance. If you would to find out more about sponsoring one of our plans, please contact us at (800) 462-3278, ext. 7161 or by e-mail at nadart401k@nada.org.