401k

We work day after day, year after year, to get ready for a future when we hope we won't have to work. But retirement isn't quite as simple as it used to be, says commentator Chris Farrell.

The tech giant is shifting its 401(k) plan to once-a-year matches instead of monthly payments.

Many Americans are unprepared for retirement -- and an economics professor believes government intervention is necessary to create a viable retirement system.

The nation's largest public pension fund got just a one percent annual return on its investments, well below the 7.5 percent the California Public Employees' Retirement System had projected for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

I just graduated from law school and found the perfect job for me. Unfortunately, it does not offer a 401(k). I have a number of old 401(k)s from previous jobs, including a few that have been rolled over into Roth IRAs. Because I was in school for 3 years, I haven't been adding to my retirement saving for that period, thinking I could "make it up." To top it all off, my husband and I now make in excess of the maximum for IRA contributions. How should I be saving for retirement at this point? Jane, Los Angeles, CA

Why can I put more money each year into a 401(k) than I can an IRA? This is stupid. I'm currently a contract employee and can only put $6,000 a year into an IRA, since I'm 50 and can use the catch-up provision. Last year, as an employee of a company that offered a 401(k), I saved more than $12,000. Plus, my company matched very generously. Thanks, Ernie, Sunnyvale, CA

Fidelity said this week that our 401(k) account balances were up 8 percent on average in the first quarter of this year. But the major stock market indexes were up even more than that. So are 401(k)s really the right ticket to a happy retirement?