When the Internal Revenue Code was amended in 2006 to add Automatic Enrollment with fiduciary protection, I was for it. If we could get participants to save passively, maybe they would decide to be active participants and increase their contributions.

According to a Vanguard survey released, participation rates in 401(k), or which Vanguard serves as record keeper have reached an all-time high of 83%. The survey showed that automatic enrollment allows easier chances for retirement savers. Nearly 58% of plans, and 76% of plans with at least 1,000 participants, have adopted this automatic enrollment.

The study said that nearly a quarter of participants saved at least 10% of their income for retirement and the average deferral rate hit a historic high of 7.4%.