Most employers regard retirement benefits as an important part of their benefits offerings, as evidenced by Towers Perrin's most recent survey. In spite of 56 percent of employers surveyed by the company who said they expected to see revenues decline in 2009, nearly 75 percent said they aren't planning to cut company contributions to defined contribution plans. Over two-thirds of employers said they had no plans to modify their defined benefit plans for current participants, and 43 percent said they had no plans to close the benefit to new participants.

This is good news for employees. More than half (59 percent) of the employers surveyed believed their employees are planning to postpone retirement. Forty-three percent of respondents said they had an increase in hardship withdrawals or loans, and 38 percent said participation was declining overall. Only 7 percent of respondents reported an increase in 401(k) participation.