Nearly half of participants believed that their employers were not very or not at all involved in selecting the investments available within 401(k) plans.
Most plan participants, 70 percent, did say that online financial advice platforms help them better prepare for retirement. According to Betterment, employees said they would more likely be involved with their 401(k) accounts if the accounts were easy to use; if they could be aggregated; and if some sort of holistic, personalized advice was offered.
For the survey, Betterment interviewed 305 full-time employees at U.S. companies offering 401(k) plans between June and September of this year. The firm also surveyed the benefits staff at seven plan sponsors.