Uncertainty over the outcome of November’s presidential election and last month’s congressional fiscal cliff negotiations may have spurred employees to more aggressively save in their 401(k)s, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s latest quarterly numbers for its retirement and benefit plan services business.
For the quarter ending Sept. 30, more than 141,000 employees started or increased their participation in the retirement plans provided through plan sponsors. Those results for the third quarter nearly matched the firm’s second quarter results that saw more than 142,000 who started or increased contributions to their retirement plans.
