Outside of Social Security, U.S. retirement assets stand at $37.8 trillion as of 2022, found the latest study by the Congressional Research Service (CRS).
The CRS’ U.S. Retirement Assets: Data in Brief survey separates the assets into two components based on its respective retirement plans: employer-sponsored retirement plans held total assets at $26.3 trillion, while individual retirement accounts (IRAs) had $11.5 trillion in assets.
From 2013 to 2022, the CRS reported that total real retirement assets—inflation-adjusted— increased by 13.3%, or $4.4 trillion, and peaked at $44.3 trillion in 2021. The growth in IRA assets contributed to most of the growth, CRS found, with a $2.8 trillion real increase from 2013 to 2022.
Retirement plan holdings include a variety of financial assets, including equities, securities, debt, mutual funds, claims on owed sponsor contributions, and other financial assets, wrote the CRS in its brief.
According to the brief, in 2022, most defined benefit (DB) holdings were held by government-sponsored retirement plans, while a majority of defined contribution (DC) holdings were operated by private employer-sponsored plans.
DC plans sponsored by the federal government had the highest growth rate of 43.4%, while holdings of financial assets by private sector DB, federal DB, and state and local DC plans all decreased in inflation-adjusted terms from 2013 to 2022.
Specifically, private sector DB plans had $3.71 trillion in assets, while state and local government DB plans came in at $9.47 trillion. Federal plans on the DB side accounted for $3.81 trillion.
Private sector DC plans accounted for $8.4 trillion, while state and local government DC plans took in $490 billion and federal DC plans held $730 billion.
According to the CRS, about two-thirds of U.S. households had a financial stake in the U.S. retirement system in 2019 (outside of Social Security).
The CRS adds that 2019 Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) found that, in 2019, among all U.S. households (including working and retired households):
• 63.3% had DC assets, participated in DB plans, or had IRA assets;
• 37.5% had DC assets;
• 30.2% participated in DB plans; and
• 25.4% had IRA assets.
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