Who'd pass up "free" money? More people than you might think. Nearly a third of American workers fail to take advantage of 401(k) plans.

Never mind that employers typically match a worker's contributions with hundreds or thousands of dollars a year. Never mind that employees don't have to do anything to qualify other than stash money away for retirement. For a variety of reasons, including inertia and ignorance, many workers don't take the perk.

Even of those who do sign up, about 1 in 5 doesn't contribute enough to meet their companies' full match, according to a new survey by the Hewitt Associates human resources firm.

Considering the stark economics of corporations, it may make little sense for employers to spend too much time or effort worrying about workers who turn up their noses at benefits. But with an eye toward improving morale, an increasing number of employers are automatically enrolling workers in 401(k)s and trying to prevent "investment paralysis" by simplifying the often-bewildering array of fund options.

"It's definitely a different world than 10 years ago, when we thought it was simple: Give [workers] a tax benefit, give them a match, and hold a seminar. That's all you need to do to get high savings rates," says Stephen Utkus, principal at the Vanguard Group's Center for Retirement Research in Malvern, Pa. "What we've come to recognize is that gets you only so far, with about two-thirds of the population. Many people are reluctant savers or reluctant investors."

Young people are especially stubborn, with just 46 percent of workers under 30 contributing to 401(k)s, according to the Hewitt Associates survey, which examined the investing habits of more than 2.5 million Americans who have the investment option at work. The rest miss the opportunity to save money, tax-free, until the IRS comes calling during retirement.

"Procrastination is what we're seeing in people who are waiting," says Lori Lucas, director of participant research for Hewitt Associates. "We see consistently that people do recognize the importance of saving for retirement, but they thought they couldn't afford it, or they were worried about the market, or they thought they had time to get to it later."

American companies often match half of what an employee contributes - up to 6 percent of his or her salary. A worker making $50,000 a year, for example, could divert $3,000 into a 401(k) and add an extra $1,500 to it, courtesy of the company. Frequently, however, "workers don't see it in the same way as their employer offering them the same amount as a 3 percent raise," says Amy Reynolds, a consultant with Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

Unfortunately for the I'll-get-to-it-later crowd, matching employer contributions are a use-it-or-lose-it proposition. Workers can't create a 401(k) account today and ask their boss to make retroactive contributions for, say, 1998.

None of this is a secret, of course, and while 401(k)s are taking an ever-larger role in employee retirement plans, they're hardly new. Companies began offering them in the early 1980s, allowing employees to enter the plans if they dropped by the personnel office and signed the appropriate forms. That approach worked fairly well, but the most challenging part - making the trip to the human resources department - left plenty of employees to their own devices.

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