vance. Also, if the plans are outsourced to financial
intermediaries, there is no administrative cost for
the employer. Employees tend to like the plans, be-
cause they are able to save pre-tax dollars and often
receive matching contributions from employers.
Also, funds held in the plans are protected from
creditors. However, unlike pensions, 401(k) plans
produce no guaranteed benefit, since they may be
invested in stocks and other securities that may lose
some or all of their value. Nevertheless, 401(k) plans
became a powerful vehicle to provide retirement
income for participants. The stock market, mean-
while, was boosted tremendously by the increased
availability of investment funds.
Further Reading
Gale, William G., John B. Shoven, and Mark J.
Warshawsky, eds. The Evolving Pension System:
Trends, Effects, and Proposals for Reform.Washing-
ton, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2005. In-
cludes discussion of various effects of pension
plans and the impact of 401(k) plans on house-
hold savings and wealth.
Munnell, Alicia H., and Annika Sundén.Coming Up
Short: The Challenge of 401(k) Plans.Washington,
D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2004. Discusses
the advantages and disadvantages of 401(k) plans.
Includes an extensive bibliography.
U.S. Senate.The Role of Employer-Sponsored Retirement
Plans in Increasing National Savings: Hearing Before
the Special Committee on Aging, United States Senate,
One Hundred Ninth Congress, First Session, April 12,
2005.Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Ac-
countability Office, 2005. Excellent overview of
the impact that 401(k) plans have had on the
level of national savings.
Dale L. Flesher
See also Business and the economy in the United
States; Tax Reform Act of 1986.
Fox, Michael J.
Identification Canadian actor
Born June 9, 1961; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Fox was already a television star when his performance as
Marty McFly inBack to the Futuremade him the heart-
throb for girls across the United States and secured his film
career.
Michael J. Fox spent his childhood and youth mov-
ing across Canada, because his father was a career
serviceman in Canada’s armed forces. At fifteen,
Fox had his first role in a Canadian television series,
Leo and Me. The next year, he moved to Los Angeles
to try his luck in Hollywood. However, success eluded
him, and his luck was so bad that he had to sell pieces
of his sectional sofa to buy food.
Fox got his first real break when he was cast in the
television sitcomFamily Tiesas Alex P. Keaton, a role
he very nearly did not get. Several key figures in
the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) studios
thought he was not quite right for the role, and they
gave it to him only after much convincing. One of
these people, NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff,
would later receive some ribbing about his hesitance392 Fox, Michael J. The Eighties in America
Michael J. Fox arrives at the premiere ofBack to the Future II
with his wife, Tracy Pollan, in November, 1989.(AP/Wide
World Photos)