Bogleheads On Investing Podcast Episode 84, Jeff Clark, author of "How America Saves 2025," Vanguard's annual report on workplace 401(k) plans, host Rick Ferri
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Jul 22, 2025 Jeff Clark, head of defined contribution research at Vanguard with 27 years studying retirement behavior. He discusses rising auto-enrollment and its impact on participation. He covers automatic escalation, target-date funds taking a larger share of assets, Roth and after-tax features, and how these trends shape workplace saving and allocation choices.
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How America Saves Uses Real Participant Behavior
- Vanguard's How America Saves analyzes actual participant behavior across a large sample.
- Study uses 5 million participants in 1,400 plans to link plan design features with participant outcomes.
Smaller Plans Will Get A Dedicated Report
- Vanguard plans vary by size and smaller-plan data will be analyzed separately.
- Vanguard administers 1,400 plans but also works with Ascensus on 20,000 small plans that will be reported on in 2025.
Use Higher Defaults And Automatic Escalation
- Set default contribution and automatic escalation to reach employer match and retirement targets.
- Over 60% of plans default at 4%+, 30% at 6%+, and ~70% auto-escalate (typically +1%/yr) up to a sponsor cap.