Retirement

Chad Parks founded his company in 1999 with one goal in mind, to make 401(k) plans accessible to small businesses. As the industry enters 2012, the CEO of The Online 401(k) believes there are five changes afoot in the 401(k) marketplace that will play a pivotal role in the industry...

Though the recession has weakened returns and made saving harder for families, many people still aren't taking full advantage of 401(k) benefits. But is a $1 million balance possible for an employee making $35,000 a year? Perhaps.

While traditional pension plans were seen as a benefit on top of employee salary, today's employers factor 401(k) contributions into the overall salary equation.

In a move that may be a bad sign for the economy, Americans are spending more, and raiding their savings, college and retirement accounts to do so even as they take on more credit card debt.

As a practical solution to the complex issue of offering pensions to foreign workers who reside in high-income settings such as Dubai, the international pension plan market has grown by 50 percent in a half decade.

As you are no doubt painfully aware, there is still a significant - and painfully significant - percentage of the population with absolutely no knowledge of retirement planning, products or prospects.