BOSTON, August 13, 2008 - Fidelity Investments, the nation's No. 1 provider of workplace retirement savings plans, today announced findings from the first half of 2008 that showed American workers are continuing to contribute to their workplace savings plans despite current market volatility.

Workers Make Retirement a Priority Despite Weak Economy and Volatile Market

Based on analysis of Fidelity's 16,723 corporate defined contribution plans representing 11.5 million participants, Fidelity found the average contribution amount increased in the first half of 2008 compared with the same period last year. Across all contributing Fidelity participants, the average pre-tax amount employees contributed in the first half of 2008 increased by 1.4 percent to $3,187 compared with $3,142 in the first half of 2007. When looking at continuous participants or employees who contributed to the same workplace savings plan in both the first half of 2008 and 2007, the average pre-tax contribution increased by 7.0 percent to $3,512 in the first half of 2008 compared to $3,283 in the first half of 2007.

"There is no doubt that American workers are feeling the pressure from escalating energy and food prices as well as a slumping real estate market, but the majority are making retirement a priority and staying the course," said Scott B. David, president of retirement services at Fidelity Investments. "What we're seeing in the first half of this year is similar to what we saw during the last period of market volatility that began in 2001. During that turbulent market period, workers also continued to fund their workplace accounts, recognizing the importance of saving for retirement even during a down market."

Account Balances Decreased 7.5% in the Past 12 Months Due to Market Declines

While workers continued to fund their workplace savings accounts, the average account balance was down 7.5% to $64,000 at the end of June 2008 from $69,200 at the end of June 2007, due to market impacts. However, the average account balance for those employees who stayed in their plans for both years was down less than 1 percent to $71,500 at the end of June 2008 from $72,000. During this same time period, the S&P 500 declined nearly 15 percent.

Smaller Percentage of Participants Initiating Loans in 2008 Compared to 2007

Loans outstanding have been slowly trending down and currently remain historically low. At the end of June 2008, 19.2 percent of workers with a balance in their workplace savings plan had a loan outstanding. That was down slightly from 19.4 percent at the end of June 2007 and 19.9 percent at the end of 2006.

The percentage of workers initiating a loan from their workplace savings plan during the three months ended June 2008 was 2.8 percent, down from 3.1 percent at the end of June 2007.

Hardship Withdrawals Up Slightly, But Represent Small Portion of Participants

The percentage of workers with a balance in their workplace savings plan taking a "hardship withdrawal" or withdrawing funds from their workplace savings account for an immediate or severe financial need was up slightly to 0.60 percent in the three months ended June 30, 2008, as compared to 0.56 percent in the same period in 2007.

However, the percentage of workers taking a hardship withdrawal remains quite low on an annualized basis representing just 1.6 percent of all employees with a balance in their workplace savings account as of the end of June 2008.

Savings in a workplace retirement plan should be used as a last resource for cash prior to retirement," continued David. "Workplace savings plans are a powerful retirement tool because they combine tax advantages with the power of potential compounding. Workers need to know that the taxes and penalties from taking a hardship withdrawal combined with opportunity cost of not having their savings grow over time can have a long-term impact on their retirement nest egg."

Less than 10 Percent of Employees Contribute to the Maximum

Most employees participating in a workplace savings plan are not contributing to the annual limit. As of the end of 2007, only 9 percent of all workers contributing to their workplace savings plan reached the annual maximum of $15,500.

Among highly compensated employees,¹ the percentage was significantly higher with nearly four-out-of-ten (38%) contributing to the maximum. However, for the non-highly compensated, the percentage of workers contributing the maximum was far lower with just 3.8 percent taking full advantage of their workplace savings plan.

About Fidelity Investments

Fidelity Investments is one of the world's largest providers of financial services, with custodied assets of $3.3 trillion, including managed assets of more than $1.5 trillion as of June 30, 2008. Fidelity offers investment management, retirement planning, brokerage, and human resources and benefits outsourcing services to 24 million individuals and institutions as well as through 5,500 financial intermediary firms. The firm is the largest mutual fund company in the United States, the No. 1 provider of workplace retirement savings plans, the largest mutual fund supermarket and a leading online brokerage firm. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit www.fidelity.com.

¹Highly compensated employee (HCE) determination. An HCE is a 5% owner of the company or an employee with compensation of at least the HCE compensation limit for the look-back year. For a 2007 calendar year plan, that limit is determined from 2006 earnings. In 2006, the HCE compensation amount was $100,000. So in a plan that follows that calendar year, HCEs for the 2007 plan year include employees who exceeded the compensation limit of $100,000.

Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC,
100 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02110

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