Thoughts of the Week
Weekly retirement-related and generosity-related quotes, statistics or insights that you can come to the site to review or have sent to you via RSS feed or email.
- 7/26/2010
Defined contribution plan and IRA assets invested in mutual funds constituted $4.1 trillion, or 25 percent, of...
...the $16.0 trillion in Americans' retirement savings at year-end 2009.
— “The U.S. Retirement Market, 2009” ICI Research Update, May 2010 - 7/19/2010
Total U.S. retirement assets were $16.0 trillion at year-end 2009, up nearly $2.0 trillion, or 14 percent, from...
...year-end 2008. The increase in retirement assets largely was driven by investment returns.
— “The U.S. Retirement Market, 2009” ICI Research Update, May 2010 - 7/12/2010
Having 10 to 14 investment fund options in a 401(k) is most common, but 11 percent of...
...of employers offer 25 or more.
— Survey on Default Investments, Watson Wyatt, April 2009 - 7/5/2010
From year-end 2003 through year-end 2008, the average account balance among the group of...
...consistent 401(k) participants grew 41.6%, rising from $61,106 at year-end 2003 to $86,513 - an average annual growth rate of 7.2%. The median 401(k) account balance among the consistent participants also grew, rising 71.3% from $25,507 in 2003 to $43,700 in 2008 - an average annual growth rate of 11.4% over the period.
— 401(k) Plan Asset Allocation, Account Balances, and Loan Activity in 2008, ICI Research Perspective, October 2009 - 6/28/2010
Advisors who sell DC Plans are 40% more successful - those who sell and manage workplace retirement plans manage...
...$92 million in assets (on average), compared to the $65 million book of a typical non-plan producer. Even after excluding plan dollars, these advisors continue to best their peers by 25% (or $16.3 million dollars in AUM, on average).
— Success at Work: Capturing Advisor-Sold Retirement Plan Dollars, Cogent Research, December 2009 - 6/21/2010
More than one-in-five (21%) workers say they have reduced their 401(k) contributions or personal savings...
...in the last six months to get by financially.
— CareerBuilder.com Survey, June 2009 - 6/14/2010
Workers automatically enrolled in 401(k) plans overwhelmingly either accept the default deferral rate set by the employer or elect to...
...increase it regardless of how high the rate. An analysis of plans with the most common default deferral rate of 3% showed that 57% keep that contribution rate and another 37% elect to increase it. Behavior of workers in plans with a 6% default deferral rate was not much different, with 60% opting to keep the rate and another 24% electing to increase.
— Fidelity Investments Workplace Investing Survey, July 2009 - 6/7/2010
For the first time, more than half of all plans (51.8%) offer investment advice to...
...participants. More small companies offer investment advice than large companies.
— 52nd Annual Survey of Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plans, The Profit Sharing/401k Council of America (PSCA), October 2009 - 5/31/2010
More than one-third of respondents with a four-year college degree were not familiar with...
...dollar-cost averaging, nearly one-quarter were not familiar with asset allocation and 12% were unfamiliar with the concept of compound interest.
— Helping Tomorrow's Retirees Better Prepare Today, String Financial, 2009 - 5/24/2010
A survey of more than 300 mid- to large-sized companies found that the percentage of employers...
... automatically enrolling employees into the 401(k) plan has almost doubled in just two years, from 34 percent in 2007 to 58 percent in 2009.
— Hewitt Associates, November 2009
