All is not well in retirement-land; 401(k) loans are gettingbigger and baby boomers are putting too much money into stocks.

That’s according to Fidelity Investments’ latest quarterlyretirement savings analysis of 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts(IRAs), which found that many older participants in401(k)s, including boomers nearing retirement age, havestock allocations higher than industry experts recommend for theirage group.

In comparing average asset allocations in the accounts toan age-based target-date fund (TDF), Fidelity foundthat 18 percent of people aged 50–54 had the allocation to stocksin their accounts that were at least 10 percent or even more abovethe recommended allocation level.

Older people had gone even deeper into equities, it found, withthose aged 55–59 having accounts that were 27 percent above therecommended equity allocation level.

Another 11 percent of people aged 50–54 had 100 percent of their401(k) assets in stocks, while 10 percent of people aged 55–59 hadall of their 401(k) assets in stocks.

Some of the increased stock allocations come from a rising stockmarket—in fact, 401(k) balances are up 50 percent in the last fiveyears. But people nearing retirement also could be trying to makeup for lost time in saving, risking that the market won’t suddenlyfall as they try to further boost the balances in their accountsbefore they leave the workplace.

Another worrisome factor is the growing size of the averageloan from 401(k) accounts. Thepercentage of people initiating a loan hasn’t grown over the lastseveral quarters, holding at 10.1 percent, and the percentage ofoutstanding loans has likewise not changed, at 21.9 percent.

However, looking at the past 12 months, the average loan amountwas $9,720 at the end of Q2. That’s up from $9,630 at the end ofQ1, and also up from $9,500 a year ago.