Target-date funds (also called quot;life-cycle fundsquot;) are a type of mutual fund that automatically rebalances its asset allocation following a predetermined pattern over time. They typically rebalance to more conservative and income-producing assets as the participant's target date of...

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 examines the level of -- and trends in -- IRA assets. In addition, it includes the most recent Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data on the distribution of assets and contributions to IRAs by IRA type, thereby permitting analysis of the assets and contribution levels of traditional...

This paper presents findings from the 2008 Recent Retirees Survey, sponsored by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) to better understand the tools and practices that might encourage workers to postpone their retirement and remain longer with their company. It finds that retirees...

This paper first looks at ownership of individual account retirement plans by family heads, then examines ownership of these plans across families. In brief, the data show that the majority of families in the United States do not own an individual account retirement plan at all, but of those...

Individual account retirement plans, such as 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs), have continued to increase their share of retirement assets, and this share is projected to grow further, particularly for private-sector workers. Consequently, tracking the percentage of workers...

This paper presents key findings from the 18th annual Retirement Confidence Surveyreg; (RCS), a survey that gauges the views and attitudes of working-age and retired Americans regarding retirement, their preparations for retirement, their confidence with regard to various aspects of retirement,...

This paper uses the most recent data (2004) from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), a triennial survey of family finances by the Federal Reserve Board, as well as historical SCF data, to examine the demographic factors associated with the ownership of individual account retirement plan...

The Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) is one of the most-cited sources of income data for retirement-age Americans (typically ages 65 or older). It has also been used to provide annual estimates of employment-based retirement plan...

The Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) is one of the most-cited sources of income data for retirement-age Americans. The Census Bureau redesigned the income questions starting in 2014 in response to findings that this survey has...