Total U.S. retirement assets were $29.8 trillion as of June 30, up 2.3% from March. Retirement assets accounted for 33% of all household financial assets in the United States.
The Investment Company Institute reports that assets in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) totaled $9.7 trillion at the end of the second quarter, an increase of 2.9% from the end of the first quarter.
Defined contribution (DC) plan assets were $8.4 trillion, up 2.6% from March.
Government defined benefit (DB) plans—including federal, state, and local government plans—held $6.2 trillion in assets as of the end of June, a 0.7% increase from the end of March. Private-sector DB plans held $3.2 trillion in assets, and annuity reserves outside of retirement accounts accounted for another $2.2 trillion.
Defined contribution plans
Americans held $8.4 trillion in all employer-based DC retirement plans, of which $5.8 trillion was held in 401k plans.
In addition to 401k plans, at the end of the second quarter, $545 billion was held in other private-sector DC plans, $1.1 trillion in 403(b) plans, $339 billion in 457 plans, and $617 billion in the Federal Employees Retirement System’s Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).
Mutual funds managed $3.8 trillion, or 65%, of assets held in 401k plans.
With $2.2 trillion, equity funds were the most common type of funds held in 401k plans, followed by $1.1 trillion in hybrid funds, which include target-date funds.
Individual retirement accounts
IRAs held $9.7 trillion in assets at the end of the second quarter. Forty-six percent of IRA assets, or $4.5 trillion, was invested in mutual funds.
With $2.5 trillion, equity funds were the most common type of funds held in IRAs, followed by $952 billion in hybrid funds.
Target-date funds
As of June 30, 2019, target-date mutual fund assets totaled $1.3 trillion, up 4.1% from the end of March.
Retirement accounts held the bulk (87%) of target-date mutual fund assets, with 68% held through DC plans and 19% held through IRAs.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.