Individual account retirement plans, such as 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs), have grown to be the predominant source of retirement assets for private-sector workers, and are becoming increasingly important for public-sector workers as well. Tracking the percentage of workers who have these plans and how much has been accumulated in them is an important indicator of how workers are financially preparing for retirement. This paper uses the most recent data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, to examine the prevalence of these accounts among workers ages 21-64. In brief, the most current data show that the significant increase in the percentage of workers in 401(k)-type plans, which had grown sharply through the 1990s, leveled off from 2005 to 2009. Ownership of IRAs, which had also risen significantly in the 1990s, experienced a slight decline from 2005 to 2009. The percentage of workers ages 21-64 with an individual account plan (IRA or 401(k)-type plan) grew significantly in the late 1990s into the early 2000s. By 2009, 33.0 percent of workers owned a 401(k)-type plan and 20.8 percent owned an IRA. The average annual contribution was $4,513 to a 401(k)-type plan, and $2,801 to an IRA in 2009. The proportion of workers ages 21-64 making a tax-deductible IRA contribution was 5.4 percent in 2009. This paper begins with an examination of participation in 401(k)-type plans and ownership of IRAs (singularly and in combination) among workers ages 21-64. Furthermore, it investigates the average contribution and the average earnings in 401(k)-type plans and IRAs, as well as the percentage of participants contributing the maximum amount to IRAs. Finally, it presents the latest official government data on the assets and participants, where they are available for these accounts, along with results on IRA contributions from the EBRI IRA Database. The PDF for the above title, published in the October 2011 issue of EBRI Notes, also contains the fulltext of another October 2011 EBRI Notes article abstracted on SSRN: “Tracking Health Insurance Coverage by Month: Trends in Employment-Based Coverage Among Workers, and Access to Coverage Among Uninsured Workers, 1995-2010.”
