From Older Investors Miss the Chance To Catch Up in Retirement Plans (subscription required) by Bridget O’Brian on September 13, 2002:

Catching up hasn’t caught on yet. Since Congress last year invited investors age 50 and older to make extra contributions to their mutual funds and other investments in tax-advantaged retirement plans, only a fraction of those who can use these “catch up” provisions have done so.

…And in any case, many eligible investors probably aren’t even aware of the catch up provisions. “Anytime there’s a tax law change, it takes a long time for the information to be disseminated” to investors says Jon Chambers, a vice president with Schultz Collins Lawson Chambers, Inc., a 401(k) consulting firm in San Francisco.

…About the only reason that’s not cited by financial professionals for why more people haven’t made catch-up contributions is the condition of the stock market itself. As a rule, “people make their decisions based on their retirement-savings objectives and tax considerations, rather than the market condition,” says Mr. Chambers, the 401(k) consultant.