"Frankly, what happens a lot of times is, when a new employee signs on, they're inundated with things they have to do," Shane says. "Sign up for health insurance. Sign up for dental. Sign up for all of these other things. Many will tell me, 'I had really good intentions of signing up for that, but I forgot or was delayed.' "

Others don't sign up to participate in their company's 401(k) because they just don't want to do the paperwork, he says.

If you ask me, it's crazy not to participate in a company 401(k). These plans give you the chance to save money for retirement, tax-deferred, usually with your employer matching at least part of that contribution. It's like getting paid for planning for the future!

The reason I like the automatic enrollment option is because it uses our own human tendency toward laziness to our advantage. If it takes work to opt out of the 401(k), more people are likely to just stay in it. Which means they will save for retirement despite themselves, and that's good for everyone.

Of course, participants in such plans do have a responsibility to try to learn about their investments and keep track of them. But if automatic enrollment at least gets the investment ball rolling, I think it's a great idea.

The new law has many other features, too, and I'll try to mention them in future columns. If a specific aspect of the pension act has raised questions for you, please let me know, and I'll try to find some answers.

Or, if you have a financial question unrelated to the new pension bill, I'll try to help with that, too. Please send questions by e-mail to gkratz@desnews.com or by regular mail to the Deseret Morning News, P.O. Box 1257, Salt Lake City, UT 84110.

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E-mail: gkratz@desnews.com