The median number of years workers had been with their current employer was 3.6 in February 1998, down from 3.8 years in February 1996, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says. Among workers 25 to 34 years old, the median job tenure in February 1998 was 2.7 years. The system is moving in a direction which lets people save on a continuous basis. That low participation rate resulted in the company failing non-discrimination tests, Wray said. In 1997, a new law took effect that allows employers to offer immediate enrollment into retirement plans and not count new employees toward discrimination testing.
Workers can log on to company web sites to do everything from enrollment to final distributions.
In between, they can check fund balances, make contribution changes, take in-service distributions and model loans, the PSCA says. Indeed, this record-keeping aspect is a leading reason why employers are turning to the Internet. Rather than paper being the primary system of tracking retirement plans it will be the Internet. If you aren't, you might not be able to afford the several hundred dollars a year that one costs. So, another hot trend is for employers to offer investment advice.