Investments. Some companies offer $401(\mathrm{k})$ retirement plans to employees, permitting them to shift part of their before-tax salaries into investments such as mutual funds. Employers typically match $50 \%$ of the employees' contribution up to about $6 \%$ of salary. One company, concerned with what it believed was a low employee participation rate in its $401(\mathrm{k})$ plan, sampled 30 other companies with similar plans and asked for their $401(\mathrm{k})$ participation rates.