Statistics on IRAs , qualified plans, 403(b)s , distributions, rollovers etc

October 2008: Investment Company Institute (ICI): The U.S. Retirement Market, First Quarter 2008: Excerpt: Readers should refer to The U.S. Retirement Market, 2007 at http://www.ici.org/pdf/fm-v17n3.pdf for detailed information on the methodology, data sources, and interpretation of the Institute’s reports on retirement assets in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), defined contribution (DC) plans, private-sector defined benefit (DB) plans, government pension plans, and annuities.

Key Findings

• Total U.S. retirement assets fell to $17.1 trillion as of March 31, 2008, down from $18.0 trillion on December 31, 2007. Retirement savings accounted for almost 40 percent of all household financial assets in the United States.
• IRAs held $4.5 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2008, down from $4.7 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2007. Mutual funds managed 47 percent of IRA assets.
• Americans held $4.3 trillion in all employer-based defined contribution retirement plans, of which
• $2.9 trillion was held in 401(k) plans, on March 31. Those figures are down from $4.5 trillion and $3.0 trillion, respectively, on December 31.
• Mutual funds managed $2.2 trillion in assets in 401(k), 403(b), and other defined contribution plans at the end of the first quarter, down from $2.3 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter. Mutual funds managed 50 percent of defined contribution plan assets.
• Lifecycle funds, which typically rebalance their portfolios to become more conservative and income producing by a specified target date, continued to grow. They managed $185 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2008, compared to $183 billion at the end of the fourth quarter. Almost 90 percent of assets in lifecycle funds were held in retirement accounts.

September 2008: Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) IRA Assets and Contributions, 2007 (PDF) : Excerpt: "IRAs are the largest repository of U.S. retirement wealth: Total IRA assets are larger than those accumulated in either private-sector defined benefit (pension) plans or defined contribution (401(k)-type) plans. At year-end 2007, IRAs held $4.75 trillion, private-sector defined contribution (401(k)-type) plans held $3.49 trillion, and private-sector defined benefit plans held $2.33 trillion. IRA growth continues to be fueled by rollovers from other types of retirement plans, not new contributions." (Employee Benefit Research Institute)

June 2008: EBRI Testimony Ways and Means: “IRAs in the American Retirement System” The Role of Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) in the U.S. Retirement System: Excerpt: Twenty-three percent of workers ages 21–64 owned an IRA at the end of 2005, an increase from 15.9 percent in 1996.2 We know IRA ownership increases with family income and age: Among workers with annual family income of $10,000–$19,999, 8.3 percent owned an IRA, compared to 35.1 percent of those with family income above $75,000. We also know education is a more striking indicator: 2.7 percent of those without a high school diploma have an IRA, compared to 46.5 percent of those with a graduate degree.

June 2008: EBRI Notes: The Number of Individual Account Retirement Plans Owned by American Families: "The continued growth in assets of individual account retirement plans (employment-based defined contribution (DC) plans (such as 401(k)s) and individual retirement accounts (IRAs)) and the growing reliance of workers on these forms of retirement plans has led to much research on average balances in these plans and the percentage of workers who own them. However, as employment-based defined contribution plans have matured, and the number of workers with these plans has increased, there is a growing probability that when these workers retire or leave their jobs, they will have one or more accounts with a former employer or rollover IRAs."

June 2008: Government Actions Could Encourage More Employers to Offer IRAs to Employees: What GAO Found: Individual retirement accounts, or IRAs, hold more assets than any other type of retirement vehicle. In 2004, IRAs held about $3.5 trillion in assets compared to $2.6 trillion in defined contribution (DC) plans, including 401(k) plans, and $1.9 trillion in defined benefit (DB), or pension plans. Similar percentages of households own IRAs and participate in 401(k) plans, and IRA ownership is associated with higher educational and income levels. Congress created IRAs to provide a way for individuals without employer plans to save for retirement, and to give retiring workers or those changing jobs a way to preserve retirement assets by rolling over, or transferring, plan balances into IRAs. Rollovers into IRAs significantly outpace IRA contributions and account for most assets flowing into IRAs. Given the total assets held in IRAs, they may appear to be comparable to 401(k) plans. However, 401(k) plans are employer-sponsored while most households with IRAs own traditional IRAs established outside the workplace. More here

May 2008: The 2008 Investment Company Fact Book: A Review of trends and Activity in the Investment Company Industry. 48th edition This provides an overview of U.S.-registered investment companies:  Summary: U.S.-registered investment companies play a significant role in the U.S. economy and world financial markets. These funds managed $13 trillion in assets at the end of 2007 for 90 million U.S. investors. Funds supplied investment capital in securities markets around the world, and were among the largest group of investors in the U.S. stock, commercial paper, and municipal securities markets. Employment among fund service providers reached 168,000 U.S. workers. Worldwide, mutual fund assets reached $26 trillion.

May 2008: EBRI Notes 'Ownership of Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and 401(k)-Type Plans' and 'The Basics of Medicare: Updated With the 2008 Board of Trustees Report', Growth in the number of 401(k)-type plans and the number of participants in those plans, which increased sharply in the 1990s, has slowed in recent years, according to a new EBRI study. Press release

May 2008: 2008 Investment Company Fact Book :"The 2008 Investment Company Fact Book provides an entry point to our extensive body of research and statistics on retirement savings, as well as statistics on, and analysis of, all types of registered investment companies and their investors, collectively referred to as funds and fund investors." (Investment Company Institute). PDF VERSION

April 2008: U.S. Retirement Assets Hit $17.8 Trillion in Third Quarter, April 2008: Americans' retirement savings grew in the third quarter of 2007 to $17.8 trillion, accounting for almost 40 percent of household financial assets. ICI's report on the U.S. retirement market also finds that mutual funds managed $2.4 trillion of assets in 401(k), 403(b), and other defined contribution plans, and nearly half of the $4.8 trillion in IRA assets ,

according to a quarterly statistical series launched last year by the Investment Company Institute

April 2008 - Employer-sponsored retirement plans are increasingly the gateway to mutual fund ownership, according to the Investment Company Institute's most recent report on fund investors. The report, "Characteristics of Mutual Fund Investors, 2007," also noted that saving for retirement is crucial to fund investors: Nine out of 10 say retirement saving is one of their financial goals, and nearly three-quarters of households list it as their primary financial goal. The report is derived from a larger ICI report on fund investors entitled Profile of Mutual Fund Shareholders.

March 2008:Total Individual Account Retirement Plan Assets, by Demographics, 2004;Assets in individual account retirement plans are concentrated in families with high family income and higher net worth, as well as in families with older family heads, higher educational attainment, and white, non-Hispanic family heads, according to a study released by EBRI Executive Summary , Report in PDF

March 2008: "EBRI Resources on Company Stock in 401(k) Plans", The recent collapse in the value of Bear Stearns shares has led to new interest in the role of company stock in 401(k) plans. EBRI 401(k) research shows that average holdings of company stock in 401(k) plans amounted to 11 percent of total assets at year-end 2006, down from 19 percent in 1996. Information sheet

Janaury 2008 :The Role of IRAs in U.S. Households' Saving for Retirement (PDF) :The Investment Company Instituture (ICI) has released its report “The Role of IRAs in U.S. Households' Saving for Retirement (PDF)”, which shows IRA ownership in the United States , IRA withdrawal Activity,  and investments in IRAs

Janaury 2008 :See the ICI's Appendix to Investment Company Institute Study: Additional Data on IRA Ownership in 2007 (PDF)

December 2007:The U.S. Retirement Market, Second Quarter 2007 (PDF) : From www.ici.org Total U.S. retirement assets climbed to $17.4 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2007, up from $16.7 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2007. Retirement savings account for almost 40 percent of all household financial assets in the United States

December 2007 - EBRI Notes "IRA Assets and Contributions, 2006; and Income of the Elderly Population Age 65 and Over, 2006," IRA Assets and Contributions, 2006: Assets in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) grew 16.5 percent in 2006, reaching a record $4.23 trillion, according to a study released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). (Press release) ( Report in PDF)

December 2007: U.S. RETIREMENT ASSETS HIT $16.6 TRILLION IN FIRST QUARTER :  The Investment Company Institute ( ICI) Launched a new series of quarterly updates for Americans savings . The first update ,issued on October 18, 2007, reported that Americans’ assets for retirement rose to a record $16.6 trillion as of March 30, 2007. Click here for details

October 2007:The EBRI has issued their October 2007 “Notes” report, which includes statistical data such as , IRA assets, defined contribution plan assets, ownership of IRAs and 401(k) plans, IRA contributions,  and other related resources . The report can be accessed here.