ICI Viewpoints Content

With $12.2 trillion in assets, individual retirement accounts (IRAs) represent more than one-third of total US retirement market assets and more than one-tenth of all US household financial assets.

Why have bond mutual funds grown substantially in the past several years? There are two possible explanations, with very different implications.

Financial literacy will equip you with money skills. Good money habits and skills will lead you to greater financial well-being—and help you achieve things such as education, home ownership, and a comfortable retirement. And those will last a lot longer than May flowers.

Policymakers around the globe are studying the turmoil in March 2020 related to the COVID-19 pandemic to determine what happened and why. Similar work is being done by academics and other analysts. Bond mutual funds have been one area of focus, and policymakers will be considering the...

This week, the Investment Company Institute (ICI) and the ICI Education Foundation (ICIEF) are joining thousands of corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, and individuals to celebrate America Saves Week. This annual campaign encourages Americans to assess their financial...

As you’re racking your brain to find that perfect Valentine’s Day gift, you might want to consider, whether for yourself or your spouse, a contribution to an individual retirement account (IRA).

Stock ownership used to conjure up images of Wall Street—but today people all up and down America’s Main Streets own stocks and are counting on stock ownership to help realize their financial goals. Today, more Americans own stock than in the past—and stock ownership has become...

Investing is subject to many misconceptions, including the notion that only older households, or only wealthy households, or only households saving for retirement own mutual funds. The reality is that households of all ages, all incomes, and with a wide range of financial goals, own...

A new national survey by ICI addresses how Americans responded to the financial pressure since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with special emphasis on whether they’ve tapped their retirement accounts. The results show that a strong majority (65 percent) of US individuals did not...

Beyond the well-known indexes that we encounter daily lie more than three million indexes designed to reflect the performance of underlying investments, from broad markets to niche subsegments. Indexes vary widely with regard to their specific objectives, the methodologies on which...