For what it’s worth, in the time before the coronavirus craziness, total U.S. retirement assets were $32.3 trillion as of December 31, up 5% from the end of September and up 16.4% for the year.
Investment Company Institute reports that retirement assets accounted for 34% of all household financial assets in the United States at the end of December.
Assets in individual retirement accounts totaled $11 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter, an increase of 5.3% from the end of the third quarter.
Defined contribution plan assets were $8.9 trillion, up 4.8% from September 30.
Government defined benefit plans—including federal, state, and local government plans—held $6.7 trillion in assets, a 5.4% increase.
Private-sector DB plans held $3.4 trillion in assets, and annuity reserves outside of retirement accounts accounted for another $2.3 trillion.
Defined contribution plans
Americans held $8.9 trillion in all employer-sponsored DC retirement plans on December 31, of which $6.2 trillion was held in 401(k) plans.
In addition to 401(k) plans, at the end of the fourth quarter, $560 billion was held in other private-sector DC plans, $1.1 trillion in 403(b) plans, $351 billion in 457 plans, and $654 billion in the Federal Employees Retirement System’s Thrift Savings Plan.
Mutual funds managed $4 trillion, or 65%, of assets held in 401(k) plans.
With $2.4 trillion, equity funds were the most common type of funds held in 401(k) plans, followed by $1.1 trillion in hybrid funds, which include target-date funds.
Individual retirement accounts
IRAs held $11 trillion in assets, with 44%, or $4.8 trillion, invested in mutual funds.
With $2.7 trillion, equity funds were the most common type of funds held in IRAs, followed by $1 trillion in hybrid funds.
Other developments
As of December 31, 2019, total U.S. retirement entitlements were $38.1 trillion, including $32.3 trillion of retirement assets and another $5.7 trillion of unfunded liabilities. Including both retirement assets and unfunded liabilities, retirement entitlements accounted for 40% of the financial assets of all U.S. households at the end of December.
Unfunded liabilities are a larger issue for government DB plans than for private-sector DB plans. As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2019, unfunded liabilities were 1% of private-sector DB plan entitlements, 46% of state and local government DB plan entitlements, and 45% of federal DB plan entitlements.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of 401(k) Specialist and 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. Experienced financial services content executive specializing in creative new media delivery. He joined the American Retirement Association in 2023 as Chief Content Officer, overseeing communications for the organization, as well as its sister organizations.