Americans aren’t saving enough for retirement and too many aren’t saving at all – we’ve all heard that before. In mid-August, Cowden Associates/Cowden Advisers will release the results of the first annual Tri-State 401(k) Survey, revealing baseline participation and contribution rates for the Western PA, OH, and WV area. These numbers will help us evaluate changes sure to come from automatic enrollment and automatic contribution increases proscribed by the Pension Protection Act.

For now, Fidelity Investment’s 2007 401(k) report, an analysis of over 10 million participants in nearly 13,000 plans administered by Fidelity at the end of 2006, gives some not-so-rosy numbers: For plans administered by Fidelity, the average employee participation rate fell over one percent

from 2005 to 2006, settling at 63.1 percent. The typical contribution rate held steady at 7 percent, but three out of four participant held funds that were “not properly diversified for [the participant’s] age.” On the brighter side, auto features that some employers have implemented seem to be dramatically increasing participation – 28 percent higher than those programs without auto enrollment. Contribution rates were also higher in plans with automatic annual increases. Fidelity will publish the full report in the fall.

Look for information on Cowden Associates/Cowden Adviser’s Tri-State 401(k) Survey at http://www.cowdenassociates.com in August.