During 2008, major U.S. equity indexes were sharply negative, with the Samp;P 500 Index losing 37.0 percent for the year, which translated into corresponding losses in 401(k) retirement plan assets. But how individual 401(k) participants are affected by the crisis is largely determined by their...

Over the past two decades, 401(k) plans have grown to be the most widespread private-sector employer-sponsored retirement plan in the United States, and now serve as the most popular defined contribution (DC) plan, representing the largest number of participants and assets. In 2007, 48.5 million...

This paper provides an update on 401(k) plan participants' asset allocations, account balances, and loan activity as of year-end 2003, as measured by the collaborative EBRI/ICI Participant-Directed Retirement Plan database - the world's largest repository of information about individual 401(k)...

A rapidly growing public policy concern facing the United States is whether future generations of retired Americans, particularly those in the Baby Boomer and Gen X cohorts, will have adequate retirement incomes. There have been several policy studies in recent years that suggest that the...

This paper helps answer one of the most important questions that many defined contribution participants face before retirement: How much do I need to save each year for a “successful” retirement? It begins with a brief description of EBRI's Retirement Security Projection Model,® followed by...

This paper analyzes the potential of a generic auto-IRA proposal to increase the probability of a “successful” retirement and decrease retirement deficits. Results were provided for all age groups from ages 35-64, but the primary focus was on the youngest cohort (ages 35-39), as they would...