Legislators and regulators from the Departments of Labor to Treasury have been looking at Americans' retirement security because life expectancies are increasing and savings have shifted from traditional pension plans, where employers generally provided retired employees with lifetime payments, to 401(k) accounts that individuals largely are responsible for funding.

Low Savings

About 60 percent of U.S. workers said they have less than $25,000 in savings and investments, according to the EBRI survey.

Fidelity, the largest provider of 401(k)s, has almost 12 million participants in about 20,000 employer-sponsored defined contribution plans. The mutual-fund manager changed its average balance calculation last year to include 401(k) accounts that are sold through advisers as well as directly through the company, McHugh said. Using the prior methodology, average account balances were $74,900 at the end of the first quarter last year, Fidelity data show.

About 10 percent of workers increased their savings rate during the first quarter of this year, compared with 4 percent who decreased it, according to the report. The corresponding percentages in the three months ended March 31, 2009, were 5.7 percent who increased their savings rate and 6.4 percent who decreased it, McHugh said.

Not Shy

"Even with the market and its unpredictability we're not necessarily seeing people shy away from contributing," said McHugh, who is based in Covington, Kentucky. Participants saved 8 percent on average of their salaries, which was unchanged from last year, she said.

The majority of plans administered by Fidelity offer workers the ability to automatically increase their savings rate each year, usually by 1 percent, said McHugh.

Americans held $3.1 trillion in 401(k)s as of Dec. 31, according to the Washington-based Investment Company Institute, a trade group for the mutual-fund industry.

The Fidelity data on average balances looks at single accounts and doesn't include additional savings workers may have in individual retirement accounts or multiple 401(k)s, said McHugh. The median account balance at the end of the first quarter was $23,000, Fidelity said.