Personal Account Retirement Plans : An Analysis of the Survey of Consumer Finances

This report analyzes data from the Federal Reserve Board's triennial Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), which provides the most comprehensive data available on the wealth of American households. The most recent SCF data are for 1998, and this report tracks information from the 1992, 1995, and 1998 surveys on personal account retirement plans--defined contribution plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Pension plan type participation is examined across demographic characteristics, and the percentage of households participating in 401(k)-type plans increased from 31.6 percent in 1992 to 64.3 percent in 1998. The account balances of these types of plans are also studied. The percentage of assets that were attributable to personal account plans are also investigated. These types of assets represented nearly one-half (49.5 percent) of all the financial assets for those families with these types of assets--personal account retirement plans. This was a significant increase from 43.6 percent in 1992. The average total account balance in personal account plans for families with a plan in 1998 was $78,417, an increase of 54 percent in real terms over the 1992 balance of $50,914 (expressed in 1998 dollars). Lastly, the impact of rollovers from a previous employer's pension plan on the average total account balance for all individual account balances is determined. It appears to be quite large: $152,451 for those with at least one rollover, versus $78,471 for all families participating in at least one personal account plan, regardless of whether they have had a rollover. The vast majority of the rollovers would appear to be going to IRAs, as opposed to a defined contribution plan with a new employer