Bogleheads On Investing Podcast · bogleheads

Episode 84, Jeff Clark, author of "How America Saves 2025," Vanguard's annual report on workplace 401(k) plans, host Rick Ferri

July 22, 2025·56 min·1 clip

With auto-enrollment, over 9 out of 10 first-year employees are saving for retirement from day one.

Rick Ferry interviews Jeff Clark about Vanguard's 2025 How America Saves study, analyzing 5 million participants across 1,400 retirement plans. Clark reveals that auto-enrollment achieves 94% participation versus 66% with voluntary enrollment—a transformation achieved through behavioral design. The biggest impact is on new hires: over 90% of first-year employees save for retirement with auto-enrollment versus voluntary plans where participation rises slowly over years 4-6. Average employer matches have increased to 4.6%, and 60% of plans now default at 4%+ contribution rates. Clark emphasizes that combining auto-enrollment with automatic salary escalation increases savings by 20-30% in the first three years.

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