| 401(k) plans must be sponsored by an employer. Millions of American workers can’t take advantage of the 401(k)’s many attractive attributes because, for one reason or another — typically high plan costs, plan inflexibility, and/or prohibitive minimum participation standards — their employers do not sponsor a plan. In particular, very small, small, and medium-sized companies have found sponsorship difficult if not impossible. Some 89% of very small companies (10-50 employees), 72% of small companies (50 - 100 employees), and 66% of medium-sized companies (100 - 250 employees) do not have 401(k) plans (Census Bureau figures). These figures do not include the companies that have fewer than 10 employees, what might be called "micro" companies. |
 |