This article examines the trends in assets in IRAs. Furthermore, the percentage of individuals owning IRAs along with relative frequency of ownership across various demographic groups are presented. Lastly, the characteristics of those who make tax-deductible contributions to IRAs are explored,...

This paper examines the extent of Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and 401(k)-type ownership by all Americans ages 21-64, regardless of work status, from November 1998 to February 1999, using the 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) data. It includes average account balances...

This Issue Brief presents results on pension and retirement plan participation from the pension and retirement plan topical module of the 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and general comparisons with past employment benefit supplements to the 1979, 1983, 1988, and 1993...

Using the 1993-2001 March Current Population Surveys, this article examines pension/ retirement plan participation among wage and salary workers ages 21-64 across various worker characteristics and the characteristics of the workers' employers. The number of salary workers ages 21-64 found to be...

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...

As individuals accumulate assets for their retirement, one of the most important decisions - after the first necessity of saving money - is how the assets are invested. The distribution of the savings across stocks, bonds, money market accounts, savings accounts, and other investments is...

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...