The Return Of The 401(K)By Linda Stern | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Feb 2, 2010 Companies are starting to match employee contributions again. But will they be as generous as they were before the recession?
What do Ford Motor Co., FedEx, Eastman Kodak, and AARP have in common? They all started 2010 by giving back what they had taken away: matching contributions to their employees' 401(k) retirement accounts. In the economic turmoil of 2008 and 2009, roughly 18 percent of companies either eliminated or reduced the contributions they were making to their employee accounts, according to a study by Profit Sharing/401k Council of America, a nonprofit group backed by employers and providers of retirement plans.
Now 5.4 percent of those companies have already restored their matches and 41.3 percent more say they'll reinstate matching contributions in the first quarter of 2010. "Even in this economic period, plan sponsors remain committed to improving their plans," says David Wray, president of PSCA. (The Pension Rights Center maintains a comprehensive list of companies and their latest policies.)
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