In the midst of the recession, a growing number of firms are launching tools and educational seminars for employees to help them with overall financial planning.

Everybody wants it. Nobody has it. It may not even exist. Not yet, at least. It's the Perfect 401(k)—a plan in which every worker participates, saves at adequate levels, and invests simply, appropriately and inexpensively along the way to retirement.

Now, more than ever, workers have every right to question the merits of the 401(k) system—and the basic tenets for forming a so-called fundamentally sound investment portfolio.

The future of defined-benefit plans is in doubt. The odds are stacked against their survival. And those companies that decide to keep them face some important choices.

Ms. Grabow is on a mission: Over the next year, she plans to reach out to all employees who are automatically enrolled in the 401(k) plan at M.A. Mortenson Co. and get them to make a choice about how their retirement money is being invested.

Why are employers such as Sperian so adamant about getting more of their employees to enroll in consumer-driven health plans? Because it saves them money—so much money, in fact, that it provides funding for incentives.

Workers are clinging to their jobs—and benefits—well into their senior years. Forward-thinking companies need to examine how they can best keep their aging talent engaged.

Bill Clinton’s election in 1992 and the crashing failure of his universal health insurance reform package—initially considered a near slam dunk—illustrate that predicting the impact of results of national elections is not a science.

Many organizations are pitching their flexible work programs, but no company has taken the idea as far as Best Buy Co. Inc. Corporate employees of the Minneapolis-based electronics retailer can work anytime, anywhere.

Determined to reduce their retirement benefits risk, global employers continue to move away from defined benefit plans.

Jill Smart, chief human resources officer at professional services consultancy Accenture, knows all too well how tough the life of an Accenture road warrior can be.

Employees will be turning to loans or hardship withdrawals from their retirement plans to help ease the pain of the crushing financial downturn, according to the results of a new Crain's Benefits Outlook survey.

The Obama administration will have a major influence in shaping legislation on health care, retirement plans and family leave policies.

Consumer-driven health plans, typically a combination of high-deductible medical insurance coupled with a health savings account, are capturing employers' attention as a way to curb runaway benefit costs.

Standardizing employment benefits globally may be a good idea, but it can be tricky.

Richard Fuld never saw it coming. No, not the behemoth bankruptcy filing that sealed the fate of Lehman Brothers in mid-September, but rather the punch to the face he reportedly took-from a subordinate, no less-while running on a treadmill at the company gym.

Companies are turning to wellness programs using Madison Avenue methods to help keep a lid on soaring health-care costs. However, the jury is still out on their success.

The perfect 401(k) doesn�exist, of course. But more companies are getting there. See how several companies are helping workers put their savings efforts on the right track.

John W. Rogers Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Ariel Capital Management LLC, Chicago, worked as a vendor during high school and college at Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, and Comiskey Park, home of the rival Chicago White Sox.