Publications

Center for
Retirement Research
at Boston College
Hovey House
140 Commonwealth
Chestnut Hill
MA 02467-3808

617-552-1762 TEL
617-552-0191 FAX
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Briefs

Briefs offer concise and insightful analyses of topical issues.

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view or print these documents in Portable Document Format (PDF).

If you would like to request permission to reprint a brief, please This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

401(k)s and Company Stock: How Can We Encourage Diversification?

by Alicia H. Munnell and Annika Sundén July 2002

IB#9

Introduction

Over the past two decades, the private pension system in the United States has shifted from defined benefit to defined contribution plans, and the fastest growing defined contribution plans are 401(k)s. The defining characteristic of 401(k) plans is that employees, rather than employers, bear the investment risk. Currently, many employees hold a significant portion of their 401(k) funds in their companies’ stock, which increases the risk of their plans...

For full paper in PDF

The authors are both with the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR). Alicia H. Munnell is the Director of the CRR and the Peter F. Drucker Professor of Management Sciences at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. Annika Sundén is the Associate Director for Research of the CRR.