Title: Mcgowanjm Wire 2012 Source:
[None] URL Source:[None] Published:Feb 26, 2012 Author:Various Post Date:2012-02-26 09:15:13 by A K A Stone Keywords:None Views:1481342 Comments:2390
Fidelity Investments, the nation's largest 401(k) administrator, said on Thursday that the average balance among its nearly 12 million accountholders was $72,800 at the end of June. That's 2.4 percent less than at the end of March, and largely unchanged from last year's second-quarter average. It didn't help that the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index fell 2.8 percent during this year's second quarter. Investors worried about the European debt crisis and slow economic growth at home. "
"That's consistent with the trend since the financial crisis. Balances have grown a cumulative 58 percent since early 2009, when the stock market meltdown reduced the average balance to $46,200.
Yet workers who have stayed in the market long term have found it difficult to rely solely on investment gains to build up 401(k) savings. Stocks remain about 12 percent below their historic peak in October 2007. "
