Ironically, for all the ink sacrificed on 401(k) fee exposés and401(k) investment advice, most experts agree the biggest problemwith retirement savings is “savings.” It doesn't matter what feesyou pay if you don't save enough. It doesn't matter whatinvestments you choose if you don't save enough.

The 401(k) opportunity gave everyone an equal chance to takeresponsibility for ensuring they can live their own desiredretirement lifestyle. The world is filled with 401(k) millionaires.They saved enough. But the news is also filled with heart-breakingstories of folks who, though nearing retirement age, can't retireat their desired lifestyle. They didn't save enough.

Executing a good savings strategy requires discipline. Thismeans 401(k) plan sponsors needs to pay attention to psychology asmuch—if not more—than accounting numbers. Fortunately, our academicthought leaders have been exploring this issue for some time andhave come up with several good ideas plan sponsors can implement atlittle to no cost. Here's a review of a few:

Encourage auto-enrollment in the plan. Althoughthe DOL added some strings to this in terms of investments,auto-enrollment is a proven method to get employees to save. Butthis only gets them to dip their toe in the water; it doesn'tnecessarily get them to save more once they're in.

If you don't like auto-enrollment, then at least adoptsome quick enrollment procedures. “Quick enrollment” is amethod that allows employees to enroll at a prescribed savings rateand at a prescribed asset allocation. It can be used with orwithout auto-enrollment and it addresses the very human desire toavoid making complex decisions.

Increase the threshold, not the match. Peopletend to think in numbers divisible by five. That means, when theydo enroll, 401(k) participants tend to save 5 percent, 10 percentor 15 percent of their salary. For most, it's 5 percent, and that'sjust not good enough in most cases. If a company increases itsmatching threshold to 8 percent (even and especially if it keepsthe matching dollars the same), employees will tend to preselectthat same 8 percent as their contribution amount. This method usesthe behavioral finance concept of “anchoring” to nudge employeestoward a higher savings rate.

Keep things simple. People defer making complexdecisions even when they know it's in their best interest to make adecision. Plan sponsors can do this by either re-categorizing orreducing the investment option menu (this was addressed morethoroughly in my June column “How to Narrow Investment Choiceswithout Necessarily Reducing Investment Options.”)

Send out reminders. Constantly. This could beas simple as texting participants to ask them to considerincreasing their savings rate. Or it could be asking employees todefer more when they receive raises or bonuses. Or, if they've justcompleted paying off a loan (especially if it's in their 401(k)account), have them increase their savings by the amount equal towhat they've previously been paying toward the loan.