Summertime is for fun and relaxation, right? Not so for wealthadvisers.

For them, it's the time of the year when the number of accountholders raiding their retirement accounts tends to rise, anervous-making trend that has only accelerated over the past fewyears.

“I see interesting trends depending on the time of the year, “said Catherine Golladay, vice president of participant services forCharles Schwab. “During summer months, the number of loans (from401(k) accounts) goes up 15% to 16%. A lot of it is for collegetuition.”

The summer trend is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes tolooking at the overall problem.

Wells Fargo reported in April that not only did more people takesuch loans in the fourth quarter of 2012 than in 2011, but that theaverage amount taken increased.

According to Wells Fargo, 28% more people took out 401(k) loansin that quarter and the average amount climbed 7%, from $6,662 to$7,126.

And, now, nearly one in five 401(k) account holders (19.2%) havean outstanding loan on their retirement accounts.

And while trying to help with college tuitions is one reason forthis, many people are tapping their account for hardshipreasons.

While such loans might be necessary, loans for vacations, carrepairs and other reasons are best avoided, industry experts say.

According to one estimate, Americans are making more than $70billion in annual withdrawals from their retirement accounts.

One of the problems might be that borrowing from retirementsavings has few obstacles.

“It's pretty easy to get access,” said Joe Ready, director ofinstitutional retirement and trust for Wells Fargo. “It's almostlike a credit card.”

Add to that the notion many people have that they are onlyborrowing from themselves, so it's no big deal.

That notion runs into problems though for a couple reasons, onehaving to with the terms of such loans and the other owing to thebehavior toward their retirement accounts by those who borrow.

“It should be the account of last resort,” Ready said. “Butpeople think, “It's my money and I'll pay myself back. But it's abig payment.”

Not only is the payment big and taken out of each paycheck, butthe full amount is often due within 30 days if the employee leavesa job. That can create a new hardship for someone who is alreadyfinancially stressed.

And then there's a double whammy of sorts that sets in while theloan is being repaid.

“A lot people drop contributions to their plan while repaying aloan,” Golladay said.

The question facing plan sponsors, advisers and workers is howto navigate the daunting financial challenges faced over the yearsin raising a family, paying for college, meeting medical and othercrises while still putting away enough money for retirement.

And then there's the “sandwich generation:” people in their 40sand 50s who have financial obligations to their children as well astheir aging parents.

Navigating all these obstacles to saving is not something thatis easy to do alone.

Plan sponsors, according to their institutional advisers, arealways on the lookout for the best ways to encourage a highersavings rate while discouraging borrowing against 401(k)s.

The government has played a role in the past and could do more,policy experts say.

“The Pension Protection Act in 2006 has done a tremendous amountto boost retirement plan participation, savings and overallretirement readiness,” said Nevin Adams, director of educationaland external relations for EBRI. “That's one clear example of whatgovernments can do to help, as would be any initiative to encouragemore employers to offer programs, since it's clear that access tothese plans makes a difference.”

And companies can do more to shape 401(k) rules to encouragemore responsible saving. Ready said the one thing that would helpis making access to loans more difficult.

“Some of the dialogue with clients who do not have provisionsfor loans has shown that has not stopped employees fromparticipation,” Ready said.

In other words, people will still contribute to a 401(k) even ifthey know they cannot get a loan from it except for the direstreasons.

Employers can do more, Adams said.

“They can help by offering a plan, by providing a match, byincorporating automatic enrollment and contribution accelerationprograms,” he said. “And by making available professional adviceand/or professionally managed accounts to help individuals makebetter savings decisions.”

Golladay agrees and adds an idea to encourage savings.

“What I would encourage employers to do is put inertia on theemployees' side,” she said. “Does your plan have automatic features(for contributions)?”

According to Ready, many employers find that a certainpercentage of employees, about 20 percent, won't enroll unless it'sdone for them.

And for the vast majority that does contribute to their 401(k),the trick is to get them to up their savings.

Some ideas being discussed or tried include: lowering the amountof matching contributions for those with a low percentage divertedto savings while raising the match for those who save more; andincreasing employee contributions by 1 percentage point eachyear.

The bottom line is that saving for retirement requires thefull attention of the investor. A plan for saving for dailyexpenses, college funds and life after work is essential.

This article was originally posted at BenefitsPro.com, a sister siteof Credit Union Times.

“There are some obvious advantages to having discrete savingsset aside for different purpose,” Adams said. “Advisers, in helpingtheir clients prepare a holistic financial plan can help folksconsider those potential needs and the possible advantages. Thebest savings plan generally starts with savings goals.”