Sunday, March 8, 2009

Employer-sponsored default saving plans

Several days ago the Times ran an article about plans for universal tax-free savings accounts as mentioned by President Obama in February. It highlights the importance of having the default choice be to set up a savings account, which is a lesson from behavioral finance.

For those of us who switch employment frequently, however, it's a huge pain to keep track of all these accounts. Sometimes it's next to impossible to convince investment management companies even to give you access to your account in order to consolidate them. The article discusses that problem as well, and it's hard to know what a reasonable solution might be.