12% of Merrill Lynch clients have Roth 401(k)

Twelve percent of Merrill Lynch Retirement Group defined contribution plan clients adopted a Roth 401(k) option as of March 31, 15 months since the company began offering the option, according to a report by Merrill. Total assets in Roth 401(k) accounts were $70 million, also as of March 31. The average annual Roth 401(k) contribution is about $5,400. More than 13,000 participants in the 1,700 plans that use Merrill Lynch as record keeper contributed to a Roth 401(k) account.