Workers cut back on 401(k) savings.

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey
• Position: Retirement savings

Confronted with declining investment markets, soft job prospects and increased healthcare costs, American workers have been cutting back on their 401(k) plan savings, according to an annual survey by PlanSponsor magazine.

PlanSponsor's seventh annual Defined Contribution Survey of more than 3,200 401(k) plans, representing $500 billion in assets and 8 million participants, revealed a drop in plan participation rates across every market segment. Participation rates dropped another 3.6 percent this past year, in addition to the average 2.5 percentage point decline reported in the 2002 survey. Overall, participation rates now stand at 72.6 percent, compared with 76.9 percent in 2001.

The drop in participation was most concentrated in small and mid-size plans, those with $5 million to $500 million in assets, which reported a drop of 4.0 percent. Large plans, a segment that reported a drop of 6 percent in the 2002 survey, showed very little change in 2003.

"While investment markets have rebounded nicely over the past six months, participants are clearly cutting back on what they view as discretionary spending," noted Nevin Adams, Editor-in-Chief of PlanSponsor.

While cutbacks in company matching dollars...