Not that we’re watching too closely, but like 401k plans themselves, it’s good to benchmark overall assets from time to time.
The latest stats from the Investment Institute Company find total U.S. retirement assets were $28.3 trillion as of June, up 0.9 percent from March, and accounted for 32 percent of all household financial assets.
The research and advocacy organization adds that IRAs totaled $9.3 trillion at the end of the second quarter, an increase of 1 percent from the end of the first quarter.
Defined contribution plan assets were $7.8 trillion, up 1.7 percent from March, and $5.3 trillion was held in 401k plans.
In addition to 401k plans:
- $540 billion was held in other private-sector DC plans,
- $993 billion in 403b plans,
- $323 billion in 457 plans, and
- $580 billion in the TSPs.
Mutual funds managed $3.6 trillion, or 68 percent, of assets held in 401ks.
With $2.2 trillion, equity funds were the most common type of funds held in 401k plans, followed by $992 billion in hybrid funds, which include target date funds.
Government defined benefit plans—including federal, state and local government plans—held $6 trillion in assets as of the end of June 2018, a 1.4 percent increase from the end of March 2018.
Private-sector DB plans held $3.1 trillion in assets at the end of the second quarter of 2018, and annuity reserves outside of retirement accounts accounted for another $2.1 trillion.
Total U.S. retirement entitlements were $34.6 trillion, including $28.3 trillion of retirement assets and another $6.2 trillion of unfunded liabilities.
Including both retirement assets and unfunded liabilities, retirement entitlements accounted for 39 percent of the financial assets of all US households at the end of June.
Unfunded liabilities are a larger issue for government DB plans than for private-sector DB plans.
As of the end of the second quarter, unfunded liabilities were 10 percent of private-sector DB plan entitlements, 49 percent of state and local government DB plan entitlements, and 51 percent of federal DB plan entitlements.
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.
