Seed, when used in rankings and placement in tournaments, first started with tennis.
One source suggests the rankings come from the word ‘conceded,’ as in, the team/player is conceded, or assumed, to be the best. Casual usage led to ‘ceded’ which then led to the use of the word ‘seed.’
As far as placement in tournaments, sources say seeding is similar to gardening when you ‘plant’ something in a specific spot. In sports tournaments, organizers do not want the best players/teams knocked out in early rounds, so they ‘seed’ the best players/teams across the various legs to avoid that outcome.
The
Roth 401(k) that allows participants to make contributions on an after-tax
basis while allowing for tax-free withdrawals is increasing in popularity, with
large employers taking the lead, according to a new survey by Transamerica.
The
study found that 59% of large companies and 60% of medium ones offer this
option. Overall, 52% of plan sponsors offer a Roth 401(k). A separate
Transamerica survey of workers found that among workers who are both aware of
the Roth 401(k) option and offered it by their employers, approximately six in
10 contribute to it.
Large companies
also lead in offering traditional 401(k)s and matching contributions, the study
finds. Matching contributions are more prevalent in large companies. Seventy-nine
percent of plan sponsors offer a matching contribution as part of their 401(k)
or similar plan, including 77% of small companies, 80% of medium-sized
companies, and 84% of large companies. Transamerica says, “The employer’s matching
contribution is one of the most important features of a 401(k) or similar plan
because it incentivizes employees to join the plan and enables them to further
build their retirement savings.”
In
addition, 71% of employers say their employees view a 401(k) or similar
retirement plan as an important benefit. However, it is a luxury enjoyed by
only 60% of small companies as opposed to 90% among large companies.
In addition, automatic plan features are more prevalent in larger companies’ plans; 21% of plan sponsors have adopted automatic enrollment, including 31% of large companies, 20% of medium-sized companies and 19% of small companies. Plan sponsors with automatic enrollment report a median default contribution rate of 5% of an employee’s annual pay. Automatic escalation, a feature which automatically increases participants’ contribution rates annually with no action required by participants, has been adopted by 47% of plan sponsors. It is more prevalent at large (52%) and medium (50%) than small companies (44%).
Among plan sponsors not offering automatic enrollment, only 34% plan to do so in the future. Thirty-nine percent do not plan to offer it, and 27% are “not sure.” Among those not planning to offer it, the three most frequently cited reasons are participation rates are already high (39%), concerns about cost (32%) and administrative complexity (20%). According to TCRS’ 17th Annual Retirement Survey of Workers, 89% of workers find automatic enrollment to be appealing.
The survey also found many plan sponsors are not making plans to manage a workforce that is aging and working longer.
Transamerica’s
report was drawn from responses to a 21-minute online survey conducted between
November 20 and December 20, 2016, among
a nationally representative sample of 1,802 employers. The full study “All
About Retirement: An Employer Survey 2017″ can be found at Transamericacenter.org.