Distilled from a 25-year career spent counseling retirement plan sponsors and participants, following are the most common misperceptions I have heard about 401(k) retirement plans:
1. I only need to contribute up to the maximum company match. Many plan participants believe they only need to make contributions up to the maximum percentage that their company matches. They think that is the message the company is sending them. In most plans that works out to be only 6% in employee contributions. Many studies have indicated that participants need to average at least 15% in annual account contributions each year.
