Retirement Assets Total $16.0 Trillion at Year-End 2009

Washington, DC, May 6, 2010 - Americans held $16.0 trillion in retirement assets at the end of 2009, accounting for 35 percent of all household financial assets in the United States, the Investment Company Institute reported today.

The finding is from “The U.S. Retirement Market, 2009.” The report covers assets held in private-sector defined benefit (DB) plans, government pension plans, defined contribution (DC) plans—including 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans—annuities, and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). U.S. retirement assets increased by nearly $2.0 trillion to $16.0 trillion in 2009, up 14 percent from 2008.  Investment performance accounted for much of the increase.

At the end of 2009, IRAs held $4.2 trillion of retirement market assets; another $4.1 trillion was held in employer-sponsored DC plans, of which $2.8 trillion was held in 401(k) plans. Forty-six percent of IRA assets and 51 percent of DC plan assets were invested in mutual funds.

Lifecycle, or target date, mutual funds managed $256 billion at the end of 2009, compared with $160 billion at the end of 2008. Eighty-four percent of assets in lifecycle mutual funds were held in retirement accounts.

The report provides detailed information on the methodology, data sources, and interpretation of the Institute’s reports on retirement assets.