The EBRI IRA - Employee Benefit Research Institute

Transcription

May 2015 • No.
414
Individual Retirement Account Balances, Contributions, and
Rollovers, 2013; With Longitudinal Results 2010–2013: The
EBRI IRA Database
By Craig Copeland, Ph.D., Employee Benefit Research Institute
A T
A
G L A N C E
 Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are a vital component of U.S. retirement savings, holding nearly onequarter of all retirement plan assets in the nation. A substantial portion of these IRA assets originated in other
tax-qualified retirement plans, such as defined benefit (pension) and 401(k) plans, and were moved to IRAs
through rollovers from those plans.
 As part of the EBRI Center for Research on Retirement Income (EBRI CRI), the EBRI IRA Database is an
ongoing project that collects data from IRA-plan administrators across the nation. For year-end 2013, it
contained information on 25.8 million accounts owned by 20.6 million unique individuals, with total assets of
$2.46 trillion.
 The average account balance decreased from $91,864 in 2010 to $87,668 in 2011 before increasing to
$119,804 in 2013—an increase of 30.4 percent from 2010 to 2013, and 14.1 percent from 2012 to 2013. The
median (mid-point) followed the same pattern, going from $25,296 to $23,785 to $32,179, representing
increases of 27.2 percent between 2010 and 2013 and 15.0 percent between 2012 and 2013.
 The percentage of individuals who contributed to their IRA was relatively consistent ranging from 12.1 percent
in 2010 to 13.8 percent in 2013. The percentage of individuals owning Traditional IRAs who contributed to them
rose from 5.2 percent in 2010 to 7.0 percent in 2013. In contrast, the percentage of Roth owners who
contributed ranged from 24.0 percent to 26.0 percent from 2010–2013.
 The percentage of contributors who contributed the maximum rose from 43.5 percent in 2010 to 53.5 percent
in 2012. However, with the increase in the maximum allowable contribution in 2013, the percentage
contributing the maximum overall fell to 43.3 percent in 2013. The average contribution increased from $3,335
in 2010 to $4,145 in 2013.
 When examining the same individuals that were in the database each year from 2010 to 2013, the median
percentage change in these individuals’ account balances was a 33.6 percent increase. Furthermore, at the 25th
percentile and the 75th percentile, increases of 2.6 percent and 57.1 percent resulted.
 The growth rates for Roth IRA balances were higher both overall and by age and gender. The median Roth IRA
increase was 51.6 percent from 2010 to 2013, compared with 28.3 percent for all Traditional IRAs. A major
factor in these different rates of growth was that new contributions make up a larger portion of the Roth IRAs
than they do for Traditional IRAs, which magnified the impact of contributions. In addition, Roth IRAs are not
subject to required minimum distributions for those older than 70-½ years, as are Traditional IRAs.
A monthly research report from the EBRI Education and Research Fund © 2015 Employee Benefit Research Institute
Craig Copeland is senior research associate at the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). This Issue Brief was
written with assistance from the Institute’s research and editorial staffs. Any views expressed in this report are those of
the author and should not be ascribed to the officers, trustees, or other sponsors of EBRI, Employee Benefit Research
Institute-Education and Research Fund (EBRI-ERF), or their staffs. Neither EBRI nor EBRI-ERF lobbies or takes positions
on specific policy proposals. EBRI invites comment on this research.
Copyright Information: This report is copyrighted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). It may be
used without permission, but citation of the source is required.
Recommended Citation: Craig Copeland, “Individual Retirement Account Balances, Contributions, and Rollovers,
2013; With Longitudinal Results 2010–2013: The EBRI IRA Database,” EBRI Issue Brief, no. 414 (Employee Benefit
Research Institute, May 2015).
Report availability: This report is available on the Internet at www.ebri.org
Data Security
The Employee Benefit Research Institute’s (EBRI’s) retirement databases (the EBRI/ICI Participant-Directed Retirement
Plan Database, the EBRI IRA Database, the EBRI Integrated Defined Contribution/IRA Database) have been the subject
of multiple independent security audits and have been certified to be fully compliant with the ISO-27002 Information
Security Audit standard. Moreover, EBRI has obtained a legal opinion that the methodology used meets the privacy
standards of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. At no time has any non-public personal information that is personally
identifiable, such as Social Security Number, been transferred to or shared with EBRI. None of the three databases
allows identification of any individuals or plan sponsors.
Table of Contents
Data Security ........................................................................................................................................................ 2 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 4 Data ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4 IRA Types ............................................................................................................................................................. 4 Average IRA Balances ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Contributions ........................................................................................................................................................ 7 Rollovers............................................................................................................................................................. 11 Comparison of Account Balances and Contributions 2010–2013 .............................................................................. 16 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................... 28 About IRAs ......................................................................................................................................................... 32 Endnotes ............................................................................................................................................................ 33
Figures
Figure 1, Distribution of IRA Types by Accounts and Individuals, 2013 ....................................................................................... 5
Figure 2, Distribution of IRA Ownership, by Various Demographic Characteristics and IRA Type, 2013 ..................................... 6
Figure 3, Average IRA Balance for All Accounts and Individuals, by IRA Type, 2013 .................................................................. 8
Figure 4, Median IRA Balance for All Accounts and Individuals, by IRA Type, 2013 ................................................................... 8
Figure 5, Average IRA Balance for All Accounts and Individuals, by Age, 2013 .......................................................................... 9
ebri.org Issue Brief • May 2015 • No. 414
2
Figure 6, Median IRA Balance for All Accounts and Individuals, by Age, 2013 ............................................................................ 9
Figure 7, Average and Median Individual IRA Balance, by IRA Type and Age, 201310
Figure 8, Average and Median IRA Balance for All Accounts and Individuals, by Gender, 2013 ............................................... 12
Figure 9, Average and Median Individual IRA Balance, by Gender and Age, 2013 ................................................................... 12
Figure 10, Average and Median Individual IRA Balance, by IRA Type and Gender, 2013 ......................................................... 13
Figure 11, Percentage of Those Owning a Traditional or Roth IRA Who Contributed to It and the Percentage of Those
Contributing Who Contributed the Maximum Allowable Amount, by All Accounts and Individuals, 2013..................... 13
Figure 12, Percentage of Traditional or Roth IRA Accounts That Received a Contribution, by Age of Account Owner, 2013 ... 14
Figure 13, Percentage of Traditional or Roth IRA Accounts That Received a Contribution That Received the Maximum
Allowable Contribution, by Age of Account Owner, 2013 ............................................................................................. 14
Figure 14, Percentage of Traditional or Roth IRA Accounts That Received a Contribution, by Gender of Account Owner,
2013 ............................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Figure 15, Percentage of Traditional or Roth IRA Accounts That Received a Contribution That Received the Maximum
Contribution, by Gender of Account Owner, 2013........................................................................................................ 15
Figure 16, Distribution of the IRAs Receiving Contributions, by IRA Type and Age and Gender of Account Owner, 2013 ........ 17
Figure 17, Distribution of Traditional and Roth IRAs Receiving Contributions, by Age and Gender of Account Owner, 2013 ... 19
Figure 18, Distribution of Contribution and Rollover Amounts to Traditional and Roth IRAs, 2013 ............................................ 19
Figure 19, Distribution of Traditional and Roth IRAs That Received a Rollover, by Age and Gender of Account Owner,
2013 ............................................................................................................................................................................. 20
Figure 20, Distribution of Those Rolling Over to a Traditional IRA, by Age and Gender, 2013 .................................................. 20
Figure 21, Distribution of Rollovers by Amounts to Traditional IRAs, by Number and Value of the Rollovers, 2013 .................. 21
Figure 22, Distribution of Rollovers by Amounts to Roth IRAs, by Number and Value of the Rollovers, 2013 ........................... 21
Figure 23, Average and Median Individual IRA Balances, by IRA Type, Age, and Gender, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 ......... 22
Figure 24, Percentage of Individuals Contributing to Their IRA and of Those Contributing Who Contributed the Maximum,
2010–2013 ................................................................................................................................................................... 23
Figure 25, Average Contributions to a Traditional or Roth IRA, by Age and Gender, 2010–2013.............................................. 24
Figure 26, Distribution and Average and Median Individual IRA Balances of a Consistent Sample of Individuals, by IRA Type,
Age, and Gender, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 ........................................................................................................... 24
Figure 27, Distribution of Individual IRA Balance Changes for a Consistent Sample of Individuals from 2010 to 2013, by IRA
Type, Age, and Gender ................................................................................................................................................ 25
Figure 28, Distribution of IRA Owners by Account Balance for a Consistent Sample from 2010–2013 ..................................... 25
Figure 29, Percentage of Individuals Contributing to Their IRA and of Those Contributing Who Contributed the Maximum for a
Consistent Sample of Individuals from 2010–2013 ...................................................................................................... 26
Figure 30, Percentage of a Consistent Sample of IRA Owning Individuals from 2010–2013 Who Contribute in Various Number
of Years, by IRA Type, Age, Gender, and Account Balance ........................................................................................ 27
Figure 31, Percentage of Individuals, by IRA Type, Contributing Who Contributed the Maximum for a Different Number of
Years, Depending on Number of Years of Contributing, for a Consistent Sample of IRA Owners from 2010–2013 .... 28
Figure 32, Average IRA Contribution and the Average Contribution of Those Who Contributed in All Four Years for a
Consistent Sample of Individuals from 2010–2013, by IRA Type and Age, Gender, and Account Balance ................ 30
Box Figure A, Sources of Estimated Total U.S. Retirement Plan Assets, 2012 ......................................................................... 31
3
Individual Retirement Account Balances, Contributions, and
Rollovers, 2013; With Longitudinal Results 2010–2013: The
EBRI IRA Database
By Craig Copeland, Ph.D., Employee Benefit Research Institute
Introduction
Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are a vital component of U.S. retirement savings, holding nearly one-quarter of
all retirement plan assets in the nation.1 A substantial and growing portion of these IRA assets originated in other taxqualified retirement plans, such as defined benefit (pension) and 401(k) plans, and were moved to IRAs through
rollovers from those plans.
The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) has focused on retirement savings since its inception in 1978 and has
been particularly detailed in the study of participants in 401(k) plans, and more recently, of IRA holders as well, notably
through the creation of, and updates to, the EBRI IRA Database. This database is able to not only link the account(s) of
individuals within and across participating data providers in the IRA database, but also with the account(s) of
participants in defined contribution (DC) plans. This is done both within a calendar year and longitudinally, which
permits the examination of retirement asset holdings both at a point in time and over time as the individuals age and
either change jobs or retire.
This Issue Brief, the annual, cross-sectional analysis of the EBRI IRA Database, examines the distribution of IRA owners
by IRA type, average and median account balances, and contributions and rollovers to IRAs.2 Added to this crosssectional study is a longitudinal component that looks at account balance changes and contribution behavior from 2010
to 2013 of a consistent sample of individuals who own IRAs.
Data
As part of the EBRI Center for Research on Retirement Income (EBRI CRI), the EBRI IRA Database is an ongoing
project that collects data from IRA-plan administrators across the nation. For year-end 2013, it contained information
on 25.8 million accounts owned by 20.6 million unique individuals, with total assets of $2.46 trillion.3 For each account
within the database, the IRA type, account balance, contributions made and rollovers transferred during the year (if
any), the asset allocation, and certain demographic characteristics of the account owner are included (among other
items). Based on the richness of the data, the study presents account-level and individual-level results.
IRA Types
In the EBRI IRA Database, IRAs are classified into five types: (1) Traditional—originating from contributions (TOFC), (2)
Roth, (3) Simplified Employee Pension (SEP)/Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE), (4) Traditional—
originating from assets rolled over from other tax-qualified plans (TOFR), such as an employment-based pension or a
401(k) plan (although not all the assets in these accounts are exclusively from employment-based sources, so this
should not be used as a proxy for the amount of employment-based dollars in IRAs),4 and (5) other/unknown.5 The
distribution of the IRA accounts in this database as of year-end 2013 was:

34.7 percent TOFC IRAs.

29.1 percent TOFR IRAs (combined Traditional IRAs, 63.8 percent).

23.1 percent Roth IRAs.

6.8 percent SEPs and SIMPLEs

6.3 percent unknown (Figure 1).6
4
Figure 1
Distribution of IRA Types by Accounts and Individuals, 2013
80%
73.3%
70%
Accounts
63.8%
Individuals
60%
50%
41.3%
40%
34.7%
34.7%
28.5%
30%
29.1%
23.1%
20%
10%
6.8%
8.3%
6.3%
5.9%
0%
Traditional―Originating
from Contributions*
Roth
from Rollovers*
SEP/SIMPLE
All Traditional
Unknown
Source: EBRI IRA Database.
* Both of these accounts could have received contributions or rollovers after their origination, so these are NOT proxies for employment-based dollars vs.
IRA-only dollars. The traditional—originating from rollovers (TOFR) do provide an estimate of the dollars that have been moved into a new IRA.
Note: The percentages for individuals add up to more than 100 percent, as an individual may own more than one type of IRA.
On a unique individual basis (combining the accounts owned by the same person into one observation), 41.3 percent of
those owning an IRA in the database had a TOFC IRA, 34.7 percent had a TOFR IRA (combined Traditional total of
73.3 percent), 28.5 percent had a Roth, 8.3 percent had a SEP or SIMPLE, and 5.9 percent were unknown.
Among all IRA owners in the database, nearly one-half (46.6 percent) were ages 45–64 (Figure 2). However, the age
distribution was very different for those owning a TOFC IRA relative to other IRA types. Of those owning a TOFC IRA,
15.3 percent were under age 45, compared with 39.0 percent of those with a Roth, 25.1 percent of those with a TOFR
IRA, and 28.3 percent of those with a SEP or SIMPLE.
IRA owners were more likely to be male. In particular, those having a TOFR IRA or a SEP/SIMPLE IRA were much more
likely to be male (57.1 percent of TOFR-IRA owners and 58.1 percent of SEP/SIMPLE owners were male, recalculated
from Figure 2 for those in the database with a known gender).
Just over 45 percent of those owning IRAs had less than $25,000 in their accounts at year-end 2013 (Figure 2).7 RothIRA owners were more likely to have these lower balances (at 43.8 percent), while 35.1 percent of TOFC-IRA owners
were in that category (Figure 2).8 TOFR-IRA owners had the largest percentage of account balances of $100,000 or
more at 37.2 percent, while TOFC-IRA and SEP/SIMPLE-IRA owners had the next-highest percentages (33.3 percent
and 32.5 percent, respectively). For all IRAs combined, 27.2 percent of individual owners had balances of $100,000 or
more.9
5
6
1.4%
3.4
5.6
6.8
8.6
10.0
12.0
12.7
11.9
10.2
15.7
1.7
32.4
38.6
29.1
21.3
8.8
15.1
13.6
14.0
7.3
7.6
12.4
1.2%
2.9
5.1
6.4
8.4
9.9
12.0
13.0
12.7
11.3
15.6
1.6
31.8
38.9
29.3
22.7
10.4
16.6
14.2
13.6
6.7
6.5
9.4
Ind.
15.7
9.0
16.4
15.6
16.1
8.5
8.1
10.6
30.0
32.4
37.6
0.5%
1.4
2.7
3.9
5.9
8.0
11.3
13.9
14.3
13.3
21.5
3.3
13.2
7.3
14.6
15.0
16.7
9.0
9.3
14.9
30.8
33.1
36.2
0.5%
1.5
2.9
4.2
6.2
8.3
11.6
13.9
14.0
12.4
21.3
3.3
Traditional—Conts.*
Acct.
Ind.
Roth
22.5
16.5
24.4
17.6
12.6
3.2
1.8
1.4
34.7
41.0
24.4
3.1%
6.0
8.8
9.7
10.9
11.0
11.5
11.3
10.3
8.3
8.2
0.9
Acct.
15.4
10.8
17.6
15.3
15.1
7.1
7.2
11.6
34.9
41.0
24.1
3.1%
6.1
9.0
9.8
11.0
11.0
11.5
11.3
10.2
8.0
8.1
0.9
Ind.
24.3
5.7
11.4
11.5
13.6
8.3
9.4
15.9
37.1
50.3
12.7
0.3%
2.4
5.0
7.0
9.5
11.3
13.2
13.1
12.5
11.1
14.4
0.0
22.0
5.2
10.6
11.2
13.8
8.5
10.0
18.8
37.4
49.8
12.8
0.4%
2.5
5.2
7.2
9.8
11.5
13.3
13.0
12.2
10.7
14.1
0.0
Traditional—Rlvr*
Acct.
Ind.
(All accounts versus individuals)
27.9
9.8
16.3
13.1
12.3
6.4
6.6
7.6
37.1
52.0
10.9
0.8%
3.2
5.9
7.7
10.4
12.8
15.6
15.5
12.6
8.5
6.7
0.3
23.5
7.5
12.7
11.3
12.5
7.5
9.1
15.9
37.2
51.7
11.2
0.8%
3.3
6.0
7.8
10.5
12.8
15.5
15.4
12.4
8.4
6.7
0.4
SEP/SIMPLE
Acct.
Ind.
19.6
7.5
14.1
13.7
15.0
8.4
8.7
13.0
33.2
40.6
26.2
0.4%
1.8
3.8
5.3
7.6
9.5
12.2
13.5
13.5
12.3
18.3
1.8
17.8
6.5
13.1
13.5
15.4
8.7
9.4
15.6
33.7
40.2
26.1
0.5%
2.0
4.1
5.7
7.9
9.8
12.3
13.4
13.1
11.5
18.0
1.9
All Traditional
Acct.
Ind.
48.5
17.4
13.5
7.0
4.8
2.2
2.1
4.5
1.0
1.2
97.8
2.2%
2.6
3.7
4.0
4.6
6.1
8.7
11.7
13.3
14.8
25.4
2.9
41.2
12.6
15.4
9.9
7.4
3.2
3.2
7.2
2.7
3.1
94.3
3.1%
3.5
4.6
4.6
5.5
6.8
9.5
11.8
12.1
11.1
24.7
2.6
Unknown
Acct.
Ind.
been moved into a new IRA.
Acct.―Accounts; Ind.―Individuals.
* Traditional―Conts.=Traditional―Originating from Contributions (TOFC). Traditional―Rlvr=Traditional―Originating from Rollovers (TOFR). Both of these accounts could have received contributions
or rollovers after their origination, so these are NOT proxies for employment-based dollars vs. IRA-only dollars. The Traditional―Originating from Rollovers do provide an estimate of the dollars that have
Age
Under 25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
Unknown
Gender
Female
Male
Unknown
Account Balance
Less than $5,000
$5,000–$9,999
$10,000–$24,999
$25,000–$49,999
$50,000–$99,999
$100,000–$149,999
$150,000–$249,999
$250,000 or more
Acct.
All
Figure 2
Distribution of IRA Ownership, by Various Demographic Characteristics and IRA Type, 2013
Average IRA Balances
The average IRA account balance in 2013 was $95,363, while the average IRA individual balance (all accounts from the
same person combined) was $119,804 (Figure 3). TOFR IRAs had the highest average individual balance at $150,261,
while Roth IRAs had the lowest at $37,010.10 The median account IRA balance was $25,438, while the median
individual IRA balance was $32,179 (Figure 4). The median TOFR IRA balance was higher than the balances of the
other plan types.
The overall average and median individual balances (all accounts from the same person combined) were 26 percent
higher than the overall average and median account balances. The individual balances exceeded the account balances
by smaller percentages for each of the plan types, ranging from 2 percent for the Roth average balances to 6 percent
for TOFC IRAs. This suggests that individuals with more than one IRA typically had more than one type of IRA—and
that not taking into account all IRA holdings would miss at least 26 percent of the average individual’s cumulative IRA
assets.
The average individual IRA balance increased with age for owners ages 25 or older (Figure 5). This balance increased
from $12,537 for those ages 25–29 to $219,790 for those ages 70 or older. The median individual balance also
increased with the owner’s age. In particular, the median individual balance increased from $3,708 for those under age
25 to $75,627 for those ages 70 or older (Figure 6).
Across each plan type, the average and median individual IRA balances increased with the owner’s age at least above
age 25 (Figure 7). However, for TOFC IRAs, the average balance declined for those ages 70 or older, while the median
balance declined for all Traditional IRAs for those ages 70 or older. For individuals ages 40 and older, the average and
median balances for TOFR IRAs were higher than for each of the other plan types.11
Males had higher individual average and median balances than females: $160,589 and $43,449 for males, respectively,
vs., $96,339 and $30,660 for females (Figure 8). Across all ages, males had both higher individual average and median
balances than females (Figure 9). The median balance for males reached $118,729 for those ages 70 or older,
compared with $66,157 for females of that age.
Males had larger average and median balances across each of the plan types as well, with the largest differences being
among those with a TOFR IRA, at $193,536 average and $61,835 median for males vs. $108,979 average and $34,149
median for females (Figure 10). For Roth IRAs, average and median individual balances were much closer: $45,337 and
$17,284 for males vs. $33,998 and $16,037, respectively, for females.
Contributions12
Focusing only on Roth and Traditional IRAs, 11.5 percent of the accounts were contributed to, and 13.8 percent of the
individuals owning these IRA types contributed to them in 2013 (Figure 11). Among Traditional-IRA owners, 7.0
percent contributed, while 25.8 percent of those owning a Roth IRA contributed to it. Of those individuals contributing
to an IRA in 2013, 43.3 percent contributed the maximum amount. Almost half (46.3 percent) of those contributing to a
Traditional IRA contributed the maximum, while 39.9 percent did so with a Roth IRA.13, 14, 15
When looking at the age of the owners of the IRAs, younger Roth-IRA owners were more likely to contribute to their
Roth IRA than were older Roth-IRA owners (Figure 12): 47 percent of Roth accounts owned by those ages 25–29
received a contribution in 2013, compared with 22 percent of Roths owned by those ages 60–64. However, the
percentage of Traditional IRA accounts being contributed to did not significantly vary by the owner’s age, as the
percentage receiving a contribution ranged from 13 percent to 6 percent for account owners up through age 69.
In contrast, the percentage of those accounts receiving the maximum contribution in both Roth and Traditional IRAs
was higher for account owners who were older (Figure 13). For Roth accounts, the percentage receiving the maximum
contribution was highest for accounts owned by those over age 45. Specifically, for Roth accounts owned by individuals
7
Figure 3
Average IRA Balance for All Accounts
and Individuals, by IRA Type, 2013
$180,000
$160,000
Accounts
Individuals
$150,261
$142,587
$134,791
$140,000
$120,000
$100,000
$119,804
$123,195
$112,943
$106,947
$95,363
$77,148
$80,000
$79,424
$66,950
$60,000
$49,864
$36,350 $37,010
$40,000
$20,000
$0
All
from Contributions*
Roth
from Rollovers*
SEP/SIMPLE
All Traditional
Unknown
IRA Type
* Traditional―Conts.=Traditional―Originating from Contributions (TOFC). Traditional―Rlvr=Traditional―Originating from Rollovers (TOFR). Both of these
accounts could have received contributions or rollovers after their origination, so these are NOT proxies for employment-based dollars vs.IRA-only dollars.
The Traditional—Originating from Rollovers (TOFR) do provide an estimate of the dollars that have been moved into a new IRA.
Figure 4
Median IRA Balance for All Accounts
and Individuals, by IRA Type, 2013
$50,000
Accounts
Individuals
$45,000
$42,579
$40,000
$35,000
$43,535
$40,996
$39,401
$37,468 $37,611
$32,179
$30,000
$25,438
$25,000
$20,139 $20,257
$20,000
$15,018 $15,190
$15,000
$10,000
$5,095
$5,000
$0
All
from Contributions*
Roth
from Rollovers*
SEP/SIMPLE
All Traditional
$6,318
Unknown
IRA Type
* Traditional―Conts.=Traditional―Originating from Contributions (TOFC). Traditional―Rlvr=Traditional―Originating from Rollovers (TOFR). Both of these
accounts could have received contributions or rollovers after their origination, so these are NOT proxies for employment-based dollars vs.IRA-only dollars.
The Traditional—Originating from Rollovers (TOFR) do provide an estimate of the dollars that have been moved into a new IRA.
8
$165,139
$200,000
$107,644
$91,976
$68,683
$54,725
$40,398
$33,784
$28,065
$20,456
$12,537
$11,527
$13,103
$25,000
$12,713
$50,000
$17,826
$75,000
$49,948
$100,000
$72,285
$125,000
$94,156
$150,000
$123,209
$122,957
$175,000
$126,759
Individuals
$175,934
Accounts
$156,581
$225,000
$212,812
$250,000
$219,790
Figure 5
Average IRA Balance for All Accounts and Individuals, by Age, 2013
$0
Under 25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older Unknown
Age
Figure 6
Median IRA Balance for All Accounts and Individuals, by Age, 2013
$38,738
$30,239
$24,011
$24,264
$17,745
$14,441
$12,325
$7,661
$6,981
$5,000
$4,856
$3,708
$10,000
$3,710
$20,000
$10,765
$30,000
$18,865
$40,000
$31,692
$50,000
$39,319
$41,149
$60,000
$51,242
$55,807
$70,000
$45,801
Individuals
$59,253
Accounts
$75,277
$80,000
$75,627
$90,000
$0
Under 25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older Unknown
Age
9
10
18,256
29,651
43,418
58,037
75,961
100,476
134,427
172,232
172,007
114,513
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
Unknown
52,167
67,395
66,410
50,380
38,124
28,646
21,361
15,143
10,113
5,842
3,909
5,000
$37,611
Median
30,648
89,522
59,034
46,815
39,928
34,493
30,138
26,597
23,620
19,768
14,301
10,075
$37,010
Average
Roth
14,701
28,134
23,750
20,919
17,871
16,001
14,799
13,995
13,263
11,630
8,167
5,273
$15,190
Median
144,963
303,100
266,208
209,748
154,159
110,984
79,774
56,036
36,231
18,418
8,220
5,498
$150,261
43,017
122,977
110,565
82,733
58,252
43,093
30,700
20,297
11,796
4,934
2,730
1,658
$43,535
Median
Traditional—Rlvr*
Average
46,854
142,293
136,962
119,066
99,463
78,189
60,550
44,600
28,532
15,994
8,377
5,880
$79,424
15,770
48,578
45,351
38,550
32,125
24,698
18,706
13,317
8,578
5,388
3,063
1,551
$20,257
Median
SEP/SIMPLE
Average
114,820
226,871
221,546
174,095
129,913
97,214
72,287
52,030
34,186
18,539
10,396
26,135
$134,791
52,148
84,622
84,877
63,311
46,648
35,588
26,356
18,086
11,099
5,425
3,142
2,802
$40,996
Median
All Traditional
Average
311,288
113,971
102,707
67,497
43,730
29,350
21,303
14,365
8,632
5,556
3,112
4,076
$66,950
32,610
18,037
13,005
8,387
6,011
4,418
3,395
2,734
2,131
1,725
1,040
571
$6,318
Median
Unknown
Average
* Traditional―Conts.=Traditional―Originating from Contributions (TOFC). Traditional―Rlvr=Traditional―Originating Rollovers (TOFR).
Both of these accounts could have received contributions or rollovers after their origination, so these are NOT proxies for employment-based dollars vs. IRA-only dollars. The Traditional—Originating from
Rollovers do provide an estimate of the dollars that have been moved into a new IRA.
38,291
13,389
25–29
$112,943
Under 25
Age
All
Average
Traditional—Conts.*
Figure 7
Average and Median Individual IRA Balance, by IRA Type and Age, 2013
ages 25–29, 37 percent received the maximum contribution, compared with 38 percent for Roth accounts owned by
individuals ages 45–49, the lowest percentage for Roth accounts owned by individuals ages 45 or older. The
percentage of Traditional IRAs receiving the maximum contribution had a jump up in this percentage for owners ages
35 or older. The percentage of Traditional IRAs receiving the maximum was no lower than 42 percent for owners ages
35 or older compared with at most 35 percent for those accounts owned by individuals younger than age 35.
The likelihood of contributing to an IRA did not significantly differ by gender within the database, as both Roth and
Traditional IRAs owned by either males or females (as well as those without a gender identified in the database) had
similar probabilities of receiving contributions. For example, 6.7 percent of Traditional IRAs owned by females were
contributed to in 2013, as were 6.4 percent of accounts owned by males (Figure 14).16 However, accounting for both
types of IRAs, the percentage of accounts receiving a contribution by both genders was 11.4 percent. Furthermore, the
percentage of accounts receiving a contribution that received the maximum contribution was also very similar between
the genders: 45.0 percent for females and 45.6 percent for males (Figure 15).
In 2013 almost 2.6 million IRA accounts in the database were contributed to (Figure 16), and the average amount
contributed was $4,145. More than one quarter (25.6 percent) of the accounts receiving contributions were owned by
individuals in their 50s. Additionally, more accounts owned by males were contributed to than those owned by females,
since there are more male account owners (this is different from the likelihood of contributing, as described above).
The average contribution was highest for accounts owned by those ages 65–69. In fact, there was a steady increase in
the average contribution up through that age, with a noticeable jump when the owners reached age 50, where the
maximum allowable contribution is higher under the catch-up contribution rules. Accounts owned by males received
slightly higher average contributions ($4,260) than did those owned by females ($4,243).
More contributions were made to Roth accounts than to all Traditional accounts (both types of Traditional accounts
combined into one category) (Figure 16). However, at $4,338, the average contribution to a Traditional account was
higher than the $4,009 to a Roth account. Yet, a higher overall aggregate amount was contributed to Roth IRAs ($6.08
billion for Roths, compared with $4.61 billion for Traditional accounts) due to the fact that there were substantially
more Roth owners making any level of contribution.
Roth IRAs had a higher percentage of younger individuals contribute to them, as 23.9 percent of the Roth accounts
receiving contributions were owned by individuals ages 25–34. In contrast, only 7.5 percent of the Traditional accounts
that received contributions were owned by those ages 25–34. Furthermore, both Roth and Traditional accounts
receiving contributions were more frequently owned by males, and the average contribution was higher for male
account owners to both of the IRA types, albeit at a very small amount.
Even when accounting for age, the average contributions to accounts owned by males were larger than those to
accounts owned by females, except for those ages 45–49 and 70 or older (Figure 17), although at some ages the
average contributions were nearly equal. Yet, the age distributions for the male- and female-owned accounts that
received contributions were very similar. For example, 28.3 percent of the female-owned accounts that received a
contribution were owned by those in their 50s, compared with 25.8 percent of the male-owned accounts that received
a contribution.
Rollovers
When comparing contributions to IRAs with rollovers to IRAs, rollovers overwhelmingly outweighed new contributions in
dollar terms. While almost 2.6 million accounts in the database received contributions compared with the 1.7 million
accounts that received rollovers in 2013, 14.5 times the amount of dollars were moved to IRAs through rollovers than
were contributed to IRAs (Figure 18). This is not surprising, given the annual contribution limit of $5,500 ($6,500 for
those ages 50 or older) to IRAs in 2013, relative to the theoretically unlimited amount that could be added via a
rollover. Almost 30 percent of contributions made to IRAs were in the $5,501 to $6,500 range (the maximum amount
allowed) compared with 74.3 percent of the rollovers being $5,000 or larger (including 9.4 percent of $250,000 or
more).
11
Figure 8
Average and Median IRA Balance for All
Accounts and Individuals, by Gender, 2013
$180,000
$160,589
$160,000
Female
Male
Unknown
$140,000
$125,348
$120,000
$96,339
$100,000
$80,000
$91,853
$77,385
$75,004
$60,000
$43,449
$40,000
$33,471
$30,660
$24,650
$23,576
$18,319
$20,000
$0
Accounts
Individuals
Accounts
Average
Individuals
Median
Figure 9
Average and Median Individual IRA Balance,
by Gender and Age, 2013
Female
All
Age
Under 25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
Unknown
Male
Unknown
Average
$96,339
Median
$30,660
Average
$160,589
Median
$43,449
Average
$91,853
Median
$23,576
14,497
12,689
19,880
31,860
45,158
61,245
81,057
105,786
134,516
161,653
164,747
70,399
4,748
5,014
8,129
12,857
17,869
23,756
30,423
39,114
50,667
64,958
66,157
19,947
15,250
14,828
23,970
39,807
60,419
84,738
116,178
159,408
219,045
289,139
313,426
91,937
4,826
5,816
9,386
14,520
21,523
30,743
42,087
56,323
79,581
110,100
118,729
19,867
10,373
9,745
16,609
28,036
40,815
53,603
68,540
89,413
122,969
161,715
159,016
127,248
2,521
3,991
5,944
9,786
13,518
17,580
21,977
27,767
38,310
53,924
51,995
46,166
12
Figure 10
Average and Median Individual IRA Balance,
by IRA Type and Gender, 2013
$176,984
Traditional-Conts.*
$6,044
$39,914
$37,234
$24,006
$11,870
$13,385
$61,835
$27,401
$52,636
$40,728
$27,513
$17,284
$34,149
$15,776
$34,203
$32,505
$16,037
$15,381
$57,458
$65,042
$102,690
$108,301
Unknown
$27,190
$45,337
$33,998
$107,873
Traditional-Rlvr*
$122,476
$99,810
$108,979
$57,698
$100,000
SEP/SIMPLE
$70,904
$92,836
$104,961
$150,000
Roth
All Traditional
$137,217
$200,000
$50,000
$193,536
$250,000
$0
Female
Male
Unknown
Female
Male
Average
Unknown
Median
* Traditional―Conts.=Traditional―Originating from Contributions (TOFC). Traditional―Rlvr=Traditional―Originating Rollovers (TOFR).
Both of these accounts could have received contributions or rollovers after their origination, so these are NOT proxies for employment-based dollars vs.
IRA-only dollars. The traditional-originating from rollovers do provide an estimate of the dollars that have been moved into a new IRA.
Figure 11
Percentage of Those Owning a Traditional* or Roth IRA
Who Contributed to It, and the Percentage of Those Contributing
Who Contributed the Maximum Allowable Amount,
by All Accounts and Individuals, 2013
50%
45%
All
Traditional*
46.3%
44.7%
Roth
43.3%
41.8%
39.7%
40%
39.9%
35%
30%
25.8%
25.4%
25%
20%
15%
10%
13.8%
11.5%
7.0%
6.5%
5%
0%
Accounts
Individuals
Contributing
Accounts
Individuals
Of Those Contributing Who Contributed the Maximum
* Traditional IRAs in this figure include all Traditional IRAs.
13
Figure 12
Percentage of Traditional* or Roth IRA Accounts That
Received a Contribution, by Age of Account Owner, 2013
60%
51%
All
50%
Roth
Traditional*
47%
41%
40%
37%
30%
30%
28%
24%
24%
24%
23%
22%
22%
21%
20%
16%
15%
14%
13%
9%
10%
9%
8%
12%
8%
12%
12%
10%
8%
8%
9%
7% 8%
8%
6%
6%
3%
3%
2%
0%
Under 25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older Unknown
Figure 13
Percentage of Traditional* or Roth IRA Accounts That Received a
Contribution That Received the Maximum Allowable Contribution,
by Age of Account Owner, 2013
34%
56%
54%
53%
46%
50%
52%
49%
47%
47%
45%
38%
39%
42%
43%
45%
42%
37%
34%
36%
35%
37%
36%
35–39
40–44
27%
27%
26%
27%
30%
36%
40%
46%
50%
47%
Traditional*
47%
Roth
41%
All
55%
60%
20%
10%
0%
Under 25
25–29
30–34
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
14
Figure 14
Percentage of Traditional* or Roth IRA Accounts That
Received a Contribution, by Gender of Account Owner, 2013
30%
28.6%
Female
Male
Unknown
25.0%
25%
23.7%
20%
15%
11.4%
11.4%
11.8%
10%
6.7%
6.4%
6.2%
5%
0%
All
Traditional*
Roth
Figure 15
Percentage of Traditional* or Roth IRA Accounts That Received
a Contribution That Received the Maximum Contribution,
by Gender of Account Owner, 2013
60%
Female
49.1%
50%
45.0%
Male
Unknown
49.5%
45.6%
41.9%
43.0%
40%
31.8%
32.3%
31.0%
30%
20%
10%
0%
All
Traditional*
Roth
15
The average and median rollover amounts to Traditional IRAs were $96,660 and $27,967, respectively, and to Roth
IRAs were $22,915 and $8,291 (Figure 19). In addition, nearly 1.6 million rollovers to Traditional IRAs occurred in 2013
compared with 0.1 million rollovers to Roths.
Average and median rollover amounts increased with the owner’s age through age 69 for Traditional IRAs and ages 70
or older for Roth IRAs (except for the median decline for ages 45–49), respectively. Furthermore, the average and
median rollover amounts from male-owned accounts were higher than those from female-owned accounts, e.g., for
Traditional IRAs, $120,414 and $34,363, respectively for males, compared with $74,774 and $21,441 for females
(Figure 19). Controlling for age, the average and median rollover amounts to Traditional IRAs were still higher among
male account-owners than among female account-owners (Figure 20). The age distribution of those making a rollover
was very similar between males and females.
The distribution of rollover dollars and distribution of the number of rollovers are dramatically different for Traditional
IRAs. Nearly 13 percent of the rollovers in 2013 were less than $2,000, but the value of those rollovers represented
only 0.1 percent of the assets rolled over to Traditional IRAs in 2013 (Figure 21). In contrast, 10.2 percent of the
rollovers were $250,000 or more, but the value of those rollovers represented 57.2 percent of the assets rolled to
Traditional IRAs. However, for rollovers to Roth IRAs, the distribution of the values of the rollovers was not as skewed
to the largest rollover amounts (Figure 22). For example, 23.0 percent of the rollovers to Roth IRAs were in the amount
of $10,000–$24,999, but these represented 16.0 percent of the value of the dollars rolled over to IRAs. The value of
the largest rollovers to Roth IRAs was 16.4 percent of the dollars rolled over.
Comparison of Account Balances and Contributions 2010–2013
While each year’s database is a unique snapshot (cross section) of that year’s IRA balances and contributions, it is
informative to compare the results between years to consider changes in account balances and contribution trends. The
first comparison conducted is by examining each year’s snapshot. The second comparison focuses only on those
individuals who have an account in the database in each year of the analysis (2010–2013). This not only allows the
analysis to focus on the activity within these accounts over an extended period of time, but also controls for changes in
the aggregate and averages resulting from the additions and subtractions from the database because of new data
providers into the database, as well as accounts being closed. Furthermore, the distribution of the growth in the
balances across each account holder in the study can be deduced, as well as the persistence of contributions by these
individuals.17
Snapshot Comparison—The average balance for each year’s full sample decreased from $91,864 in 2010 to
$87,668 in 2011 before increasing to $105,001 in 2012 and $119,804 in 2013—an increase of 30.4 percent from 2010
to 2013, and 14.1 percent from 2012 to 2013 (Figure 23). The median followed the same pattern, going from $25,296
to $23,785 to $27,987 to $32,179, representing increases of 27.2 percent between 2010 and 2013, and 15.0 percent
between 2012 and 2013. This same down-then-up pattern in average balances occurred for each gender and among
Traditional IRAs. However, the average balance continued up in 2011–2013 for those accounts owned by 35- to 49year-olds. Above that age, the pattern of a decrease in average balance in 2011 and an increase in average balance in
2012 and 2013 resulted. Below age 35, another year of declines resulted before increasing in 2013. The average
balance for Roths and SEP/SIMPLEs increased each year.
The percentage of individuals who contributed to their IRA in each year was relatively consistent across years at
12.1 percent in 2010, 13.2 percent in 2011, 13.1 percent in 2012, and 13.8 percent in 2013 (Figure 24). The
percentage of individuals owning Traditional IRAs who contributed to them rose from 5.2 percent in 2010 to 7.0 percent in 2013. In contrast, Roth owners had the highest percentage contributing in 2011: 26.0 percent, compared with
24.0 percent in 2010 and 25.1 percent in 2012, before an increase to 25.8 percent in 2013.
While the percentage of individuals contributing remained relatively consistent across the four years, the percentage of
contributors who contributed the maximum rose from 43.5 percent in 2010 to 53.5 percent in 2012 (Figure 24).
Increases during that time occurred for each IRA type, with owners of Traditional IRAs having higher likelihoods of
16
17
33.3
858
1,040
681
Male
Unknown
4,260
3,846
4,243
3,055
3,429
3,445
3,524
3,653
3,827
4,533
4,776
4,948
4,975
4,755
3,834
40.3
26.4
3.9
7.6
9.7
9.2
10.0
10.7
12.4
13.2
11.5
7.4
3.6
0.8
102
196
250
237
258
276
320
341
296
191
94
20
Under 25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
Unknown
Gender
Female
All
Age
4,432
2,621
3,639
311
671
862
834
941
1,056
1,450
1,630
1,464
951
445
76
380
250
330
9
25
47
63
88
111
142
162
149
106
49
8
39.6
26.0
34.4
0.9
2.6
4.9
6.6
9.2
11.6
14.8
16.9
15.5
11.0
5.1
0.9
4,455
4,016
4,435
2,851
2,892
3,299
3,656
3,863
3,975
4,611
4,744
4,832
4,825
4,474
3,989
1,914
1,069
1,628
26
83
181
269
388
496
728
845
784
555
222
33
611
415
491
93
167
195
163
157
151
162
163
134
76
44
11
40.3
27.4
32.3
6.1
11.0
12.9
10.8
10.4
10.0
10.7
10.8
8.8
5.0
2.9
0.7
4,122
3,737
4,099
3,075
3,521
3,487
3,465
3,519
3,705
4,457
4,810
5,089
5,201
5,072
3,720
2,517
1,552
2,011
285
588
681
565
553
560
722
785
680
396
223
42
All Contributions
Traditional Contributions*
Roth Contributions
Number
Percent Average
Total
Number
Percent Average
Total
Number
Percent Average
Total
(in thousands)
(in millions) (in thousands)
(in millions)
2,579
100%
$4,145
$10,691
960
100%
$4,338
$4,611
1,517
100%
$4,009
$6,080
Figure 16
Distribution of the IRAs Receiving Contributions, by IRA Type and Age and Gender of Account Owner, 2013
contributing the maximum in each year. However, in 2013, with the increase in the maximum allowable contribution,
the percentage contributing the maximum overall fell from 53.5 percent in 2012 to 43.3 percent in 2013. Similar
percentage-point drops occurred for both Traditional and Roth IRAs.
The average contribution increased each year including 2013. In 2010, the average contribution was $3,335, increasing
to $3,723 in 2011, to $3,904 in 2012, and to $4,145 in 2013 (Figure 25). This increase in the average contribution
occurred for each known age and gender group of the contributing owners of IRAs. Furthermore, the average
contribution increased with the age of the IRA owners through ages 65–69 for each year, with the exception of 2011,
when the increase stopped at ages 60–64 and in 2010 for those ages 30–34.
Consistent Sample Comparison—In order to compare the experience of the same account owners
longitudinally, only the individuals owning an IRA with a positive account balance in the database in each year (2010–
2013) were included to form a consistent sample of individuals.18 Each individual’s accounts were studied to determine
the change in his or her IRA balances and contribution behavior during 2010–2013. This provides a more accurate
picture of account growth, rather than relying on aggregate database totals, which might include new individuals or
might exclude individuals who no longer have an account. This allows for a better understanding of how accounts grow
for those maintaining their IRAs, as well as the contribution activity.
For this consistent sample, the overall average balance increased each year—from $89,427 in 2010, to $90,232 in
2011, to $101,649 in 2012, and to $118,185 in 2013 (Figure 26). This increase occurred across each known owner age
group and IRA type, except for owners ages 70 or older and for TOFR owners, who experienced a decline of their
balances in 2011 preceding increases in 2012 and 2013. Average balances for each gender grouping also increased
each year. The median values also followed a continual upward trend across all IRA owners, except for those ages 70
or older and for TOFR IRAs.
The comparison of the averages and medians, while instructive, does not show the distribution of the changes in the
individuals’ IRA balances, an important consideration as different individuals could experience significantly different
changes between years, particularly in view of the varying levels of contributions to and withdrawals from the accounts
as well as the asset allocation within the accounts. Using the experiences of these same individuals in the consistent
sample, the 25th percentile, median, and 75th percentile of the resulting percentage changes of these individuals’
balances are presented in Figure 27. The median percentage change in the account balances for all individuals was an
increase of 33.6 percent from 2010 to 2013. This means that half of the individuals had an increase greater than that
amount and the other half either had a smaller increase, no change, or a decline. Furthermore, at the 25th percentile, a
2.6 percent increase resulted, meaning that 25 percent of the individuals who consistently owned an IRA had an
increase smaller than 2.6 percent. The highest (fourth) quartile of balance changes experienced growth surpassing
57.1 percent.
The growth rates for Roth IRA balances were higher both overall and for each age and gender. The median Roth IRA
increase was 51.6 percent from 2010 to 2013, compared with 28.3 percent for all Traditional IRAs. A major factor in
these different rates of increase was that new contributions make up a larger portion of the Roth IRAs than they do
for Traditional IRAs, which magnified the impact of contributions.
The significant differences in the distribution of percentage change in the balances at ages 70 or older is due to the
required minimum distribution (RMD) rules that require individuals to make withdrawals out of Traditional IRAs starting
April 1 of the year following the calendar year in which they reach age 70-½. These rules do not apply to Roth IRAs,
which explains the continued increases found at this age for the Roth owners. Even with the required withdrawals,
more than half of these Traditional owners had balances in 2013 that were larger than they were in 2010, meaning that
the returns they received during those years were equal to, or larger than, the amount they may have withdrawn.19
As would be expected given the distribution of the percentage changes in the account balances, the distribution of the
account balances has shifted to higher-balance categories from 2010 to 2013 (Figure 28). In 2010, 21.2 percent of the
individuals in the consistent sample had balances of less than $5,000. By 2013, this number was down to 18.7 percent.
18
19
100%
3.2
6.3
8.7
8.6
10.1
11.4
13.6
14.7
12.3
7.4
3.7
0.0
27
54
74
74
86
98
117
126
106
64
32
0
3,070
3,428
3,462
3,564
3,705
3,890
4,620
4,855
4,999
4,993
4,763
3,935
$4,243
*Traditional IRAs in this figure include all Traditional IRAs.
All
Age
Under 25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
Unknown
Number
(in thousands)
858
Female
Percent Average
39
76
98
91
101
110
129
139
124
84
48
0
3.8
7.3
9.4
8.8
9.7
10.6
12.4
13.4
12.0
8.1
4.6
0.0
100%
3,194
3,565
3,553
3,580
3,709
3,884
4,642
4,864
5,053
5,069
4,743
3,864
$4,260
Male
Percent
Average
* Traditional IRAs include all Traditional IRAs.
Contributions
All
2,579
Less than $1,000
418
$1,000-$1,999
276
$2,000-$3,999
328
$4,000-$5,500
799
$5,501-$6,500
759
Total Contributions (in millions)
Rollovers
All
1,712
Less than $2,000
227
$2,000-$4,999
214
$5,000-$9,999
150
$10,000-$24,999
266
$25,000-$49,999
235
$50,000-$74,999
137
$75,000-$99,999
88
$100,000-$149,999
117
$150,000-$249,999
118
$250,000 or more
162
Total Rollovers (in millions)
Number
(in thousands)
100.0
13.2
12.5
8.8
15.5
13.7
8.0
5.1
6.8
6.9
9.4
$155,674
100.0%
16.2
10.7
12.7
31.0
29.4
$10,691
Percent
126
272
348
327
374
427
600
677
629
425
227
0
35
66
78
71
70
68
74
76
66
44
14
20
5.1
9.6
11.4
10.5
10.3
10.0
10.8
11.2
9.6
6.4
2.0
2.9
2,887
3,272
3,295
3,412
3,511
3,645
4,203
4,484
4,665
4,771
4,777
3,834
Unkown
Total
Number
Percent Average
$4,432
681
100%
$3,846
Figure 18
Distribution of Contribution and Rollover
Amounts to Traditional* and Roth IRAs, 2013
84
184
258
264
320
381
541
611
529
317
151
0
Total
Number
$3,639
1,040
Figure 17
Distribution of Traditional* and Roth IRAs Receiving Contributions, by Age and Gender of Account Owner, 2013
100
215
257
243
247
249
310
343
307
209
67
75
Total
(in millions)
$2,621
20
28.2
38.3
33.5
445
605
530
74,774
120,414
87,904
5,667
9,314
21,159
37,851
54,373
69,206
88,616
125,383
156,269
160,888
146,097
102,068
100%
1.5
6.4
8.2
8.0
9.1
10.1
12.2
12.7
14.5
10.4
7.0
0.0
6.5
28.4
36.5
35.4
40.4
44.7
54.1
56.5
64.4
46.4
31.2
0.0
Percent
Number
(thousands)
444.6
21,441
34,363
27,967
1,848
3,256
7,647
15,254
22,347
27,600
32,651
42,377
59,552
61,501
49,520
34,861
$27,967
33,242
72,827
46,547
131
836
2,498
4,619
7,588
10,601
16,115
24,311
35,310
28,994
20,471
1,142
32
52
49
3
13
15
13
13
12
14
14
15
12
9
1
23.9
39.3
36.9
2.6
9.5
11.1
9.6
9.5
9.3
10.2
10.7
11.2
8.8
6.6
0.8
Total
Number
Percent
$152,616
133
100%
17,692
25,909
23,109
5,076
8,689
12,428
15,714
16,838
20,749
22,209
26,808
33,349
36,446
49,184
24,038
$22,915
Roth
Average
6,271
8,620
9,949
1,986
4,339
5,870
7,013
7,665
7,600
8,883
10,398
13,000
15,000
16,000
9,993
$8,291
Median
564
1,357
1,137
17
111
185
202
214
258
302
382
496
430
436
25
Total
(in millions)
$3,059
4,931
8,114
18,910
33,963
47,022
58,322
73,067
101,398
121,244
120,653
111,847
19,152
$74,774
Average
Female
1,806
3,093
6,334
13,165
18,207
21,474
25,387
32,533
47,316
49,030
38,681
11,109
32
230
690
1,204
1,902
2,607
3,953
5,731
7,804
5,602
3,486
0
8.7
32.4
43.1
46.3
55.2
61.8
73.0
77.9
91.4
66.7
48.3
0.0
Total
Number
(millions) (thousands)
$21,441 $33,242
604.8
Median
1.4
5.4
7.1
7.7
9.1
10.2
12.1
12.9
15.1
11.0
8.0
0.0
100%
Percent
5,081
10,852
24,492
43,124
63,203
80,689
107,607
158,350
197,449
205,566
185,521
46,040
$120,414
Average
Male
Unkown
1,889
3,533
9,070
17,966
27,121
33,936
41,004
54,836
78,380
77,999
54,017
7,774
44
352
1,055
1,999
3,491
4,984
7,853
12,330
18,055
13,702
8,960
1
7.8
29.0
38.5
40.2
43.9
46.7
54.8
59.5
70.1
67.1
60.7
11.2
1.5
5.5
7.3
7.6
8.3
8.8
10.3
11.2
13.2
12.7
11.5
2.1
6,934
8,769
19,561
35,203
50,031
64,435
78,671
105,027
134,725
144,352
132,308
102,218
Total
Number
Percent Average
(millions) (thousands)
$34,363 $72,827
529.5
100% $87,904
Median
Figure 20
Distribution of Those Rolling Over to a Traditional* IRA, by Age and Gender, 2013
All
Age
Under 25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
Unknown
1.5
5.7
7.5
7.7
8.8
9.7
11.5
12.3
14.3
11.4
8.9
0.7
23
90
118
122
140
153
182
194
226
180
140
11
$96,660
Traditional*
Average Median
All
Age
Under 25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
Unknown
Gender
Female
Male
Unknown
Number
Percent
(in thousands)
1,579
100%
Figure 19
Distribution of Traditional* and Roth IRAs That Received a Rollover,
by Age and Gender of Account Owner, 2013
1,838
3,140
7,597
14,727
21,210
26,911
31,066
39,156
54,282
59,555
50,775
34,982
$27,967
Median
54
254
754
1,416
2,195
3,009
4,309
6,250
9,450
9,690
8,025
1,141
Total
(millions)
$46,547
Figure 21
Distribution of Rollovers by Amounts to Traditional* IRAs,
by Number and Value of the Rollovers, 2013
60%
57.2%
Number of Rollovers
50%
Value of Rollovers
40%
30%
20%
14.9%
12.9%
10%
14.7%
13.8%
12.3%
5.2% 5.4% 4.8%
5.2%
10.2%
9.1%
8.3%
7.7%
7.3%
7.4%
2.6%
0.6%
0.4%
0.1%
0%
Figure 22
Distribution of Rollovers by Amounts to Roth IRAs,
by Number and Value of the Rollovers, 2013
25%
23.0%
Number of Rollovers
21.1%
Value of Rollovers
20%
18.8%
17.7%
16.4%
16.0%
15.3%
15%
12.6%
12.3%
10.2%
10%
9.2%
7.6%
6.2%
4.8%
5%
2.3%
0.6%
2.0%
1.9%
1.1%
0.7%
0%
21
Figure 23
Average and Median Individual IRA Balances, by IRA Type,
Age, and Gender, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013
All
Type
Traditional-Conts.^
Roth
Traditional-Rlvrs^
SEP/SIMPLE
All Traditional
Unknow n
Age
Under 25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
Unknow n
Gender
Female
Male
Unknow n
2010
$91,864
Average
2011
2012
$87,668
$105,001
2013
$119,804
2010
$25,296
Median
2011
2012
$23,785
$27,987
2013
$32,179
88,403
24,798
123,426
55,733
103,346
96,441
78,051
25,741
110,918
56,479
98,797
83,062
97,286
31,288
134,354
67,457
118,645
60,212
112,943
37,010
150,261
79,424
134,791
66,950
29,756
11,471
38,138
15,471
32,647
18,815
24,721
11,344
31,944
15,711
28,457
21,982
32,161
12,796
39,172
17,794
35,803
6,443
37,611
15,190
43,535
20,257
40,996
6,318
21,986
10,290
16,236
25,683
36,968
50,998
74,046
92,196
129,976
170,672
162,857
108,765
11,434
12,278
18,106
27,664
38,354
51,006
66,771
86,572
116,415
145,575
144,252
280,290
11,165
11,009
17,704
29,202
42,826
59,471
80,525
108,074
147,739
191,208
192,961
160,233
13,103
12,537
20,456
33,784
49,948
68,683
91,976
122,957
165,139
212,812
219,790
126,759
5,782
4,769
7,229
10,819
14,745
19,329
24,505
31,762
42,998
58,965
56,198
35,255
3,238
4,488
6,612
10,072
13,751
18,312
23,216
29,080
38,838
50,122
49,994
116,475
3,360
4,721
7,036
11,003
15,770
21,463
28,056
36,363
49,899
66,852
65,419
43,666
3,708
5,000
7,661
12,325
17,745
24,264
31,692
41,149
55,807
75,277
75,627
45,801
71,112
120,719
85,037
66,529
114,745
76,604
81,700
139,467
85,230
96,339
160,589
91,853
23,246
32,752
22,820
21,642
30,704
19,916
27,826
40,103
26,589
30,660
43,449
23,576
So urce: EB RI IRA Database.
^ Traditio nal―Co nts.=Traditio nal―Originating fro m Co ntributio ns (TOFC). Traditio nal―Rlvr=Traditio nal―Originating Ro llo vers (TOFR).
B o th o f these acco unts co uld have received co ntributio ns o r ro llo vers after their o riginatio n, so these are N O T pro xies fo r emplo yment-based do llars vs.
IRA -o nly do llars. The traditio nal—Originating fro m Ro llo vers (TOFR) do pro vide an estimate o f the do llars that have been mo ved into a new IRA .
Correspondingly, the percentage of individuals with account balances of $250,000 or more increased from 8.7 percent
in 2010 to 12.2 percent in 2013.
The likelihood of contributing by the owners of IRAs in the consistent sample decreased from 13.7 percent in 2010 to
13.1 percent in 2011, to 12.4 percent in 2012, and to 12.3 percent in 2013 (Figure 29). For Traditional owners, the
likelihood of contributing was virtually unchanged, moving from 6.4 percent in 2010 to 6.2 percent in 2012 to 6.3 percent in 2013. Among Roth owners, there was a continuous decrease from 25.8 percent in 2010 to 22.5 percent in 2013.
Of those contributing in each year, the likelihood of contributing the maximum increased each year through 2012
among both IRA types, reaching 53.1 percent for Traditional-IRA owners and 45.3 percent for Roth owners. However,
the percentage of those contributing the maximum decreased in 2013 for both IRA types, since the maximum allowed
contribution increased. The percentage contributing the maximum decreased for contributing-Traditional-IRA owners to
43.7 percent and for Roth contributors to 38.5 percent.
Using the longitudinal nature of the consistent sample, the persistence of contributing to IRAs and the number of years
each individual in the sample contributed was investigated. First, the percentage of these consistent account owners
who did not contribute to their IRA in any of the years 2010–2013 was 79.4 percent (Figure 30). The remainder broke
down as follows: 6.6 percent contributed in only one year, 3.8 percent contributed in two years, 3.6 percent
contributed in three years, and 6.7 percent contributed in all four years.
22
Looking at the different IRA types, considerable differences resulted in the likelihood of contributing to the IRA and in
the number of years contributions were made. Among Traditional-IRA owners, 88.6 percent did not contribute to the
IRA in any year, while 2.6 percent contributed in all four years. In contrast, 62.6 percent of Roth-IRA owners did not
contribute in any year and 13.0 percent contributed in all four years.20
Roth-IRA owners ages 25–29 were the most likely to contribute in any year and in all four years, at 59.9 percent and
20.8 percent, respectively. These percentages continued downward as the age of the Roth-IRA owners increased,
reaching 14.9 percent contributed in any year, and 3.1 percent contributed in all four years among those ages 70 or
older. There were no major differences by age below age 65 for Traditional-IRA owners, as 2.4 percent to 3.7 percent
contributed in all four years and 12.6 percent to 17.3 percent contributed in any year.
Furthermore, no significant gender differences were found in the number of years contributed. However, by account
balance, those with balances in the $25,000–$149,999 range exhibited the highest likelihood of contributing in all four
years, while the account balance groups above and just below these amounts had the next-highest levels of
contributing in all four years. Those IRA owners with the lowest (less than $10,000) balances were the least likely to
contribute.
Roth-IRA owners were more likely to contribute any amount, but Traditional-IRA owners who do contribute are more
likely to contribute the maximum allowed amount, except for those that only contributed in one year, where the
percentages are virtually identical (Figure 31). Of the Traditional-IRA owners who contributed in all four years,
32.9 percent contributed the maximum in all four years. For comparison, 24.4 percent of the Roth-IRA owners who
contributed in all four years contributed the maximum amount all four years. This same result followed for those who
contributed in three years and for those contributing in two years.
23
Figure 25
Average Contributions to a
Traditional* or Roth IRA,
by Age and Gender, 2010–2013
All
Age
Under 25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
Unknown
Gender
Female
Male
Unknown
2010
$3,335
2011
$3,723
2012
$3,904
2013
$4,145
2,496
2,754
2,752
2,794
2,923
3,078
3,667
3,970
4,205
4,319
4,192
3,282
2,814
3,095
3,135
3,209
3,315
3,466
4,122
4,347
4,500
4,471
4,360
4,110
2,909
3,182
3,194
3,284
3,424
3,595
4,295
4,532
4,713
4,759
4,625
3,549
3,055
3,429
3,445
3,524
3,653
3,827
4,533
4,776
4,948
4,975
4,755
3,834
3,453
3,630
3,096
3,755
3,831
3,431
3,995
4,023
3,584
4,243
4,260
3,846
Figure 26
Distribution and Average and Median Individual IRA Balances of a
Consistent Sample* of Individuals, by IRA Type, Age, and Gender,
2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013
100.0%
2010
$89,427
Average
2011
2012
$90,232
$101,649
2013
$118,185
2010
$25,881
Median
2011
2012
$26,416
$30,374
2013
$36,124
Traditional-Conts.^
Roth
Traditional-Rlvrs^
SEP/SIMPLE
All Traditional
Age
Under 25
39.2
34.1
39.2
10.0
74.6
75,379
24,906
110,660
56,503
99,366
77,025
25,974
110,326
59,566
99,855
87,339
31,456
122,599
68,961
111,628
103,378
39,288
142,469
83,919
129,158
24,833
11,118
32,292
15,758
29,742
25,480
11,978
32,105
17,529
29,884
35,489
18,503
42,911
25,666
40,030
0.8
9,115
10,071
12,448
16,335
4,117
4,906
6,285
8,417
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
Unknown
Gender
Female
Male
Unknown
2.9
5.8
7.7
10.1
11.8
13.4
13.4
12.1
9.7
12.2
0.1
9,177
14,501
24,331
36,056
50,977
69,413
92,480
128,653
170,601
187,502
112,183
10,413
15,793
25,595
37,248
51,955
70,531
94,506
130,901
172,451
183,266
110,773
13,262
19,614
30,947
44,105
60,635
81,537
108,817
148,406
192,525
195,596
123,569
17,774
25,550
39,220
54,842
74,351
98,566
129,419
172,220
218,986
213,586
141,994
4,753
6,962
10,769
15,005
20,392
26,431
33,858
46,497
63,523
69,767
31,958
5,317
7,768
11,305
15,427
20,767
26,885
34,572
47,065
63,912
67,352
32,712
6,644
9,341
13,442
17,959
23,998
30,966
39,687
53,148
71,148
71,419
36,942
8,576
11,668
16,512
21,950
29,015
37,160
46,905
61,628
80,665
77,321
43,090
36.1
43.6
20.3
69,226
123,385
52,387
70,559
123,946
52,778
80,029
139,043
59,747
94,210
160,438
70,038
25,038
36,222
13,975
25,577
36,549
14,669
29,404
41,894
16,897
35,074
49,690
20,149
All
Type#
29,368
14,636
36,218
20,804
33,861
^ Traditional―Conts.=Traditional―Originating from Contributions (TOFC). Traditional―Rlvr=Traditional―Originating from Rollovers
(TOFR). Both of these accounts could have received contributions or rollovers after their origination, so these are NOT proxies for employmentbased dollars vs. IRA-only dollars. The Traditional—Originating from Rollovers do provide an estimate of The dollars that have been moved into
a new IRA.
#
The IRA types add to more than 100 percent, since individuals can own more than one type.
24
Figure 27
Distribution of Individual IRA Balance Changes for a Consistent Sample*
of Individuals from 2010 to 2013, by IRA Type, Age, and Gender
All
Age#
Under 25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
Unknown
Gender
Female
Male
Unknown
25th
2.6%
Total
Percentile
Median
33.6%
25th
0.0%
Traditional^
Percentile
Median
28.3%
75th
57.1%
28.1
0.1
0.1
3.1
7.3
9.6
10.7
10.4
3.7
1.2
-5.5
0.4
57.1
47.9
42.2
40.3
40.1
39.3
37.8
35.7
31.2
26.3
12.9
34.3
5.5
0.7
1.1
34.2
31.7
37.8
25th
26.7%
Roth
Percentile
Median
51.6%
75th
52.2%
75th
84.5%
155.0
126.5
91.4
69.8
61.9
59.4
58.1
57.1
55.7
49.8
32.5
57.8
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
2.2
6.2
7.4
0.9
0.1
-7.4
0.0
23.6
21.1
31.6
33.4
35.3
35.5
34.5
33.0
28.3
24.0
10.5
29.9
59.0
72.3
60.0
56.7
56.5
56.2
55.8
55.3
52.5
46.4
28.8
54.1
35.5
34.8
32.2
29.8
28.9
28.2
27.1
25.0
22.4
20.6
18.6
33.1
72.2
64.4
56.5
53.4
52.1
51.5
52.1
50.7
47.5
44.1
40.8
54.6
165.3
137.5
102.0
87.9
78.3
76.1
81.1
82.4
78.9
70.2
58.6
83.2
56.7
56.5
62.6
0.1
0.0
0.0
29.3
26.5
31.5
52.7
50.3
55.1
28.1
25.1
27.5
52.0
51.0
52.1
82.4
84.3
92.7
* The consistent sample has only the individuals with at least one account in each year (2010–2013) of the database.
^ Includes all traditional IRAs.
The individual's age is from 2012.
#
Figure 28
Distribution of IRA Owners by Account Balance
for a Consistent Sample* from 2010–2013
All
Account Balance
Less than $5,000
$5,000–$9,999
$10,000–$24,999
$25,000–$49,999
$50,000–$99,999
$100,000–$149,999
$150,000–$249,999
$250,000 or more
2010
100.0%
2011
100.0%
2012
100.0%
2013
100.0%
21.2
10.3
17.8
15.3
13.7
6.7
6.5
8.7
21.2
9.9
17.8
15.4
13.9
6.7
6.5
8.8
20.0
9.1
16.8
15.3
14.6
7.0
7.1
10.2
18.7
8.2
15.5
14.8
15.2
7.6
7.8
12.2
25
38.5%
45.3%
44.3%
43.9%
51.2%
51.5%
43.7%
2011
2012
40%
23.0%
22.5%
25.8%
6.3%
6.4%
6.2%
6.4%
12.3%
13.1%
12.4%
13.7%
10%
24.6%
2013
30%
20%
51.1%
43.3%
2010
49.7%
50%
48.6%
60%
53.1%
Figure 29
Percentage of Individuals Contributing to Their IRA and of Those
Contributing Who Contributed the Maximum for a
Consistent Sample* of Individuals from 2010–2013
0%
All
Traditional
Contributing
Roth
All
Traditional
Roth
Of Those Contributing, Contributing the Maximum
* The consistent sample has only the individuals with at least one account in each year (2010–2013) of the database. Traditional includes all traditional IRAs.
The higher average IRA contribution for Traditional IRAs relative to Roths is due to more IRA contributors maxing out
their contribution amount and the relative age distributions of the contributors to the IRAs (older contributors have
larger average contribution amounts). The average Traditional IRA contribution in 2013 for all those making a
contribution was $4,436, compared with $4,031 for all Roth IRA contributions (Figure 32). The average Traditional IRA
contribution was also higher than the Roth average in 2010–2012. In addition, the average contribution for each IRA
type increased from 2010–2013. Traditional-IRA owners who contributed in all four years had a slightly higher average
contribution in 2013 than that of all Traditional-IRA owners who contributed in 2013. However, for Roth-IRA owners,
the average contribution in 2013 for those contributing in all four years was lower than the contribution for all those
that contributed to a Roth IRA in 2013.
Among Traditional-IRA owners at each age group, the average contribution in 2013 for those contributing in all four
years was higher than that of all who contributed in 2013 for those ages 45 or older, while the opposite was true for
those younger than age 45. For Roth owners, the youngest owners (under age 30) and the oldest (ages 70 or older)
who contributed in all four years had higher average contributions in 2013 than all those that age that contributed in
2013, whereas in between, the all-contributors’ average contributions were higher.
IRA owners identified as males had slightly larger average contributions than those identified as females for both IRA
types. Furthermore, for accounts with a male owner, the average contribution in 2013 was higher for those who
contributed in all four years than for anyone contributing in 2013. The larger the account balance, the higher the
average contribution was, and those with the largest account balances ($100,000 or larger) had higher average
contributions in 2013 among those contributing in all four years. In contrast, among those with the lower balances, the
all-four-years contributors had lower average contributions in 2013 than anyone who contributed in 2013 with the lower
account balances.
26
27
6.7
6.7
6.4
3.9
6.6
7.6
7.7
7.4
7.0
7.0
6.8
79.6
79.5
78.8
92.6
85.6
79.5
72.8
70.3
73.8
76.5
79.3
1.3
2.5
4.1
5.0
5.0
4.4
4.3
4.0
3.8
3.8
3.7
10.4
8.1
6.3
4.9
4.0
3.7
3.6
3.8
3.8
3.1
0.9
2.9
Two
Years
3.8%
0.9
1.9
3.3
5.1
5.5
4.8
4.4
3.9
3.6
3.6
3.6
10.6
8.5
6.3
4.8
4.0
3.6
3.5
3.6
3.5
2.5
0.6
2.9
Three
Years
3.6%
1.3
3.4
5.4
9.3
11.8
10.1
7.9
6.1
6.4
6.4
7.7
14.0
14.6
12.5
10.1
8.7
7.7
6.9
6.6
5.3
3.0
0.7
5.1
Years
6.7%
Contributing
in All Four
95.8
92.1
89.2
85.9
84.5
85.4
86.6
88.2
88.6
89.0
87.6
82.7
83.8
84.5
85.2
85.9
86.4
86.7
86.5
87.4
90.7
98.3
91.9
None
88.6%
2.6
4.7
5.3
5.6
5.5
5.2
5.1
4.8
4.8
4.7
5.0
8.2
7.8
6.9
6.1
5.4
5.2
5.2
5.4
5.4
4.4
1.1
3.2
One
Year
4.8%
^ Traditional includes both contributory and rollover in this figure.
#
Age is of 2012 and account balance is of 2013.
0.7
1.3
2.3
2.8
3.0
2.7
2.5
2.3
2.2
2.1
2.4
3.8
3.4
3.2
2.9
2.6
2.5
2.4
2.5
2.5
1.9
0.3
1.6
Two
Years
2.2%
0.4
0.8
1.5
2.5
2.8
2.6
2.3
2.0
1.9
1.8
2.0
2.7
2.6
2.6
2.5
2.4
2.3
2.2
2.3
2.0
1.5
0.2
1.5
Three
Years
1.9%
Traditional^
14.7
11.7
9.9
8.3
7.1
6.6
6.4
6.8
7.0
6.0
2.2
4.6
50.3
57.1
65.0
72.0
76.2
78.5
79.5
79.3
80.4
85.5
95.6
84.5
None
79.4%
Under 25
25–29
30–34
35–39
40–44
45–49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
Unknown
Gender
Female
Male
Unknown
Account Balance
Less than $5,000
$5,000–$9,999
$10,000–$24,999
$25,000–$49,999
$50,000–$99,999
$100,000–$149,999
$150,000–$249,999
$250,000 or more
All
Age#
One
Year
6.6%
Total
0.5
1.1
1.8
3.2
4.3
4.1
3.5
2.8
2.6
2.5
3.1
2.6
2.4
2.8
3.3
3.7
3.7
3.5
3.3
2.7
1.5
0.1
1.9
Years
2.6%
Contributing
All Four
81.9
74.8
63.5
53.4
50.1
55.6
60.5
66.8
64.2
62.6
59.6
40.8
40.1
48.2
58.6
63.7
64.9
64.2
63.1
65.2
74.1
85.1
70.6
None
62.6%
8.7
10.4
12.3
12.2
11.6
11.4
11.7
11.1
11.2
11.4
11.1
17.5
15.8
14.0
11.6
10.3
10.3
10.7
11.5
11.8
10.3
6.3
8.9
One
Year
11.3%
Roth
3.3
4.4
7.2
8.4
8.3
7.5
7.3
6.6
6.7
6.9
6.7
12.3
11.3
9.2
7.1
6.0
5.9
6.3
6.7
6.9
5.5
3.1
5.2
Two
Years
6.8%
Figure 30
Percentage of a Consistent Sample* of IRA Owning Individuals from 2010–2013
Who Contributed in Various Number of Years, by IRA Type, Age, Gender, and Account Balance
2.3
3.5
6.1
8.6
8.8
7.8
7.2
6.2
6.2
6.6
6.5
12.6
11.9
9.2
6.8
5.8
5.7
5.9
6.3
6.1
4.4
2.5
5.1
Three
Years
6.4%
3.8
6.9
11.0
17.4
21.2
17.7
13.3
9.4
11.7
12.6
16.1
16.8
20.8
19.4
15.9
14.2
13.4
12.9
12.4
10.0
5.7
3.1
10.2
Years
13.0%
Contributing
in All Four
Figure 31
Percentage of Individuals, by IRA Type, Contributing Who Contributed
the Maximum for a Different Number of Years, Depending on Number of Years
Contributing, for a Consistent Sample* of IRA Owners from 2010–2013
60%
56.0%
4 Years
55.7%
3 Years
11.2%
35.0%
22.8%
18.6%
20.5%
7.6%
7.3%
6.7%
10%
6.2%
20%
13.8%
17.6%
24.4%
30%
22.3%
32.6%
42.2%
39.3%
30.7%
32.9%
36.6%
37.9%
12.8%
40%
35.7%
None
38.4%
44.0%
47.0%
1 Year
44.3%
2 Years
50%
0%
Traditional
Roth
Traditional
Roth
Traditional
Roth
Of Those Contributing Four Years,
Of Those Contributing Three
Of Those Contributing Only Two
Contributing the Maximum
Years, Contributing the Maximum Years, Contributing the Maximum
Traditional
Roth
Of Those Contributing Only One
Year, Contributing the Maximum
* The consistent sample has only the individuals with at least one account in each year (2010–2013) of the database. Traditional includes all Traditional IRAs.
Conclusion
This study provides results for the fifth year (2013) of data available from the EBRI IRA Database, with the last four
years being contiguous. The results show the importance of being able to measure not only account balances, but also
an individual’s combined account balances to determine the potential total retirement savings he or she has by the
aggregation of multiple accounts. Indeed, the overall, cumulative IRA average balance was 26 percent larger than the
unique account balance. Therefore, databases that are not able to link accounts owned by the same individual within
and across data providers will likely understate the total IRA assets owned by that individual, and thus the total
retirement accumulations held by individuals.
With four years of contiguous data now available in the database, a more detailed examination of the longitudinal
changes in these individuals’ IRAs was possible. While the overall average balance increased 32.2 percent for those
individuals with an account in each year from 2010–2013, 25 percent (regardless of age) had increases less than
2.6 percent since 2010. On the other hand, the highest 25 percent of balance changes exceeded 57.1 percent. RothIRA owners experienced a much higher distribution of increases, with the lowest 25 percent of the balance changes for
IRAs topping out at 26.7 percent, and the highest 25 percent exceeding 84.5 percent.
An annual-snapshot percentage of those contributing to IRAs doesn’t show whether the same individuals were
contributing over time, or if different people contributed in different years. However, a consistent longitudinal sample
allows for this examination. For example, among Traditional-IRA owners, approximately 6 percent contributed to the
IRA annually, but over a four-year period just over 11 percent of Traditional-IRA owners contributed. The percentage
contributing also increased for Roth-IRA owners, from approximately 25 percent in any one year to over 37 percent
over the four-year period.
As the EBRI IRA Database continues to expand and mature, further examinations of the longitudinal changes will be
conducted. The first such examinations included in this study were an investigation of the changes in IRA balances for
28
the same set of individuals, as well as the persistence of contributions among these same individuals. Now that the
linking of the IRA Database with DC account data is underway, results on the combination of individuals’ assets in these
accounts can be determined, along with the growth and movement of dollars both within and between these accounts.
Ultimately, the tracking of dollars from DC plan accumulations, to IRA rollovers, and eventually through decumulation
will be measured to assess whether retirees seem positioned for a remaining lifetime of financial well-being.
29
30
All
$4,057
2,584
2,622
3,016
3,414
3,596
3,710
4,258
4,483
4,599
4,651
4,552
4,402
4,088
4,214
3,690
1,521
1,691
2,686
3,769
4,354
4,685
4,815
5,115
All
$4,000
2,574
2,665
2,986
3,390
3,546
3,671
4,035
4,430
4,567
4,648
4,427
4,390
4,055
4,174
3,550
1,829
2,341
2,789
3,676
4,258
4,603
4,763
5,075
1,372
1,794
2,797
3,848
4,426
4,739
4,876
5,187
4,162
4,284
3,751
2,665
2,780
3,115
3,485
3,648
3,844
4,371
4,534
4,644
4,705
4,739
4,455
All
$4,128
2012
1,499
2,246
3,119
4,176
4,778
5,095
5,217
5,527
4,474
4,593
4,045
2,966
3,114
3,537
3,881
4,012
4,231
4,725
4,825
4,898
4,954
4,563
4,677
All
$4,436
1,288
1,262
2,062
3,824
4,758
5,210
5,421
5,757
4,554
4,716
3,818
2,812
2,813
3,214
3,713
3,952
4,234
4,761
4,888
4,970
5,092
4,914
4,771
$4,460
Contributing
in All Years
2013
#
^ Includes all traditional IRAs.
Age is of 2012 and account balance is of 2013.
All
Age#
Under 25
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50–54
55–59
60–64
65–69
70 or older
Unknown
Gender
Female
Male
Unknown
Account Balance
Less than $5,000
$5,000–$9,999
$10,000–$24,999
$25,000–$49,999
$50,000–$99,999
$100,000–$149,999
$150,000–$249,999
$250,000 or more
2011
2010
Traditional^
1,574
1,891
2,519
3,599
4,292
4,620
4,696
5,066
3,831
3,893
3,070
2,613
3,163
3,227
3,205
3,246
3,401
3,870
4,428
4,755
4,889
4,781
3,824
All
$3,689
2010
1,336
1,390
2,470
3,718
4,367
4,678
4,767
5,108
3,862
3,925
3,218
2,853
3,216
3,249
3,229
3,282
3,440
4,082
4,498
4,793
4,898
4,756
3,963
All
$3,746
2011
1,179
1,384
2,511
3,746
4,385
4,714
4,780
5,128
3,888
3,946
3,234
3,048
3,272
3,245
3,212
3,282
3,505
4,148
4,528
4,792
4,888
4,756
3,826
All
$3,769
2012
Roth
Figure 32
Average IRA Contribution 2010–2013 and the Average Contribution of Those Who
Contributed in All Four Years for a Consistent Sample* of Individuals 2013,
By IRA Type and Age, Gender, and Account Balance
1,215
1,694
2,772
4,012
4,693
5,040
5,132
5,493
4,146
4,210
3,496
3,391
3,529
3,466
3,428
3,497
3,805
4,470
4,834
5,086
5,163
4,990
4,244
All
$4,031
1,051
1,142
2,085
3,786
4,665
5,106
5,179
5,547
4,107
4,220
3,185
3,434
3,553
3,456
3,385
3,420
3,705
4,356
4,725
4,988
5,105
5,084
3,926
$3,931
Contributing
in All Years
2013
Box Figure A
Sources of Estimated Total U.S. Retirement Plan Assets, 2013
(Total $26.2 trillion)
Federal Government
13%
State & Local Government
20%
Private Insured
9%
Private Defined Benefit
12%
Private Defined Contribution
(including 401(k)s)
19%
Individual Retirement
Accounts
27%
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, "Financial Accounts of the Untied States: Flow of Funds, Balance Sheets,
and Integrated Macroeconomic Accounts." Fourth Quarter 2014.
31
About IRAs
Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) were created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)
as a way to provide workers who did not have employment-based pensions an opportunity to save for retirement on a
tax-deferred basis. The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 (ERTA) extended the availability of IRAs to all workers with
earned income, including those with pension coverage. The Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA ’86) restricted the tax
deductibility of IRA contributions to those with incomes below certain levels and created nondeductible IRAs (where
contributions are not tax-deductible but earnings still accrue tax-deferred), and partially (or wholly) deductible IRAs,
depending on income. The Taxpayer’s Relief Act of 1997 (TRA ’97) created a new type of nondeductible IRA—the Roth
IRA—and allowed nonworking spouses to contribute to an IRA, subject to certain income restrictions. As an account
type, IRAs currently hold the largest single share of U.S. retirement plan assets, largely from rollovers from other types
of plans (see Box Figure A).
Nonemployment-based IRAs. There are two basic types:

Traditional IRAs: Anyone with earned income, as well as a nonearning spouse of an earner under certain
conditions, can contribute. Contributions are tax deductible (or not) depending upon the contributor’s income and
participation in an employment-based retirement plan. Earnings in these IRAs accrue tax-deferred, and withdrawals
after age 59-½ are taxed as ordinary income. Minimum withdrawals from a Traditional IRA must commence by
April 1 of the calendar year after the year the individual turns age 70-½.

Roth IRAs: This type of IRA offers tax-free investing for retirement: No taxes are paid on investment returns or
on withdrawals made after age 59-½, as long as the Roth IRA has been held for at least five years. Contributions
to Roth IRAs are not tax-deductible, but there are no mandatory withdrawals after age 70-½ (as there are with
Traditional IRAs). Certain income limits restrict eligibility for contributing to a Roth IRA.
The current, maximum, annual contribution to a Traditional or Roth IRA is $5,500 for those under age 50 at the end of
2015. This limit can be split between a Traditional and a Roth IRA, but the combined limit is $5,500. Those age 50 or
older in 2015 can make an additional $1,000 “catch-up” contribution, for a combined annual limit of $6,500. The
maximum contribution to a Roth IRA and the maximum deductible contribution to a Traditional IRA may be reduced
depending upon an individual’s modified, adjusted gross income.
Employment-based IRAs

Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plans allow employers to make contributions on a tax-deferred basis for
their employees and allow self-employed individuals to make contributions for their own retirement.

Savings Incentive Match Plans for Employees (SIMPLE) plans also allow for tax-deferred, employer
contributions plus allow salary-reduction contributions by the employees. The employers must make matching
contributions or nonelective contributions to the plans.

Traditional–originating from rollovers (TOFR) IRAs or Traditional—originating from contributions
(TOFC) IRAs: In the EBRI IRA Database, Traditional IRAs are separated into two categories to highlight the
amount of IRA assets that have moved from other tax-qualified plans (including defined benefit (DB), defined
contribution (DC), and prior IRA plans) and were subsequently rolled over to new IRAs―those originating from
rollovers and those originating from contributions. However, this in no instance should be construed as an estimate
of the dollars originating in the employment-based system and transferred to the IRA system, as both types of
accounts could have received rollovers or contributions subsequent to their establishment. Additionally, a rollover
could have been an IRA-to-IRA rollover without any money originating in the employment-based system. This
distinction is important for those interested in seeing the relative contribution of the employment-based retirement
system vs. that funded solely by IRA contributions. As the longitudinal aspect of this database is developed, a more
refined measure of these dollars will be established. The Internal Revenue Service reports these accounts as a
single category called Traditional IRAs. The tax treatment is the same for these IRAs once the dollars are in the
IRA.
32
Endnotes
1
See Box Figure A at the end of this study.
2
See Craig Copeland, “Individual Retirement Account Balances, Contributions, and Rollovers, 2012; With Longitudinal Results
2010–2012: The EBRI IRA Database,” EBRI Issue Brief, no. 399 (Employee Benefit Research Institute, May 2014) for the most
recent prior year of the database.
3
Below is a comparison of the EBRI IRA Database with numbers from the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve’s
Financial Accounts report as referenced in the Box Figure A.
EBRI IRA
Database 2010
EBRI IRA
Database 2013
Internal Revenue
Service 2010 Data
Flow of Funds
2013 Data
$1.00 trillion
$2.46 trillion
$5.03 trillion
$6.97 trillion
85.9%
85.3%
86.3%
Average Rollover Amount
$69,012
$90,912
$68,123
Average Account Balance
$89,427
$118,185
$92,404
Total Assets
Percentage Traditional Assets
The above percentage of Traditional assets is adjusted for known assets. With the unknown assets included, the Traditional
IRA asset percentage is 82.5 percent. Based on this asset comparison, the database includes about 35 percent of the 2013
assets. The number of individuals owning IRAs in the database represents about one-third of all IRA owners, accounting for
growth from the 54.5 million individuals the Internal Revenue Service reported owning an IRA in 2010. See Victoria L. Bryant
and Jon Gober, “Accumulation and Distribution of Individual Account Arrangements, 2010.” Statistics of Income Bulletin, Fall
2013, pp. 1-18 for complete IRS tabs of IRAs. Also see the discussion in the About IRAs box about the differences in IRA
types.
4
Traditional IRAs are broken down into categories based on how the accounts originated with the data providers either
through contributions made by the account owners or through rollovers from other tax-qualified vehicles, such as traditional
pension or 401(k) plans. Since both of these account categories could have received contributions or rollovers at some point
after their origination, these are NOT proxies for employment-based dollars vs. IRA-only dollars. The TOFR IRAs do provide
an estimate of the dollars that have been moved into new IRAs.
5
Some of the IRAs could not be classified into the four stated categories by the data providers. Consequently, these accounts
are classified as “unknown” in this database.
6
For those with a known account, 37.1 percent were TOFC IRAs, 31.0 percent TOFR IRAs (combined 68.1 percent), 24.7
percent Roth, and 7.2 percent SEP/SIMPLE.
7
IRAs in the unknown category had a significantly larger percentage with these lower balances at 69.1 percent pushing the
overall percentage above 45 percent, as the next highest category with these lower balances is Roth-IRA owners who had
43.8 percent with a balance below $25,000.
8
This isn’t surprising considering that Roth IRAs didn’t exist until 1998. Furthermore, Roth IRAs have a higher percentage of
younger contributors who, on average, contribute less annually. Additionally, Roth IRAs have generally not received large
rollovers from other tax-qualified plans, such as 401(k) plans, that Traditional rollover IRAs have received. However, this
could change over time with the growing availability of a Roth option in 401(k) plans and changes in tax laws that allow for
more ease in converting Traditional IRAs into Roth IRAs.
9
The individual account-balance distribution could shift toward a larger percentage of individuals having balances greater than
$100,000 in the future as the database expands to include other data providers. However, this will depend on the number of
new individuals added relative to the number of new accounts added for individuals already in the database.
33
10
In 2010, the ability of individuals to convert their Traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs was significantly eased. As a result, after
2010, the differences in the average balances between TOFR, TOFC, and Roth IRAs could become smaller, depending on the
number of individuals taking advantage of these new Roth-conversion rules.
11
TOFR IRAs and those of unknown type, where owner age was unknown, had significantly higher average balances than
those of all other ages for those IRA types. This reflects a specific segment of the market for which some of the data
administrators do not have age records. The likelihood of having more than one IRA was also much higher among this group
with an unknown age.
12
Contributions to SEP and SIMPLE IRAs are not considered in this section due to the differing limits in them relative to the
nonemployment-based IRAs and the potential incentives to contribute to SIMPLEs through matching contributions.
13
In 2013, the maximum contribution to an IRA was $5,500 for those younger than age 50 and $6,500 for those ages 50 or
older, due to the additional $1,000 catch-up contribution allowed individuals of that age.
14
In 2001, 69.9 percent of those making a contribution to a deductible, Traditional IRA made the maximum contribution
($2,000), but in 2005, only 26.8 percent were found to have made the maximum contribution ($4,000 for those under age 50
and $4,500 for those ages 50 or older) to this IRA type. See Craig Copeland, “Ownership of Individual Retirement Accounts
and 401(k)-Type Plans,” EBRI Notes, no. 5 (Employee Benefit Research Institute, May 2008): 2–12. In 2012, when the limits
were $5,000 and $6,000, 51.9 percent of accounts received the maximum contribution and 53.5 percent of individuals made
the maximum contribution from the IRA database See Copeland 2014.
15
The individuals making the maximum contribution could be higher if individuals are contributing to more than one account
and the other account(s) is (are) not in the database. However, within the database, of those contributing to a Roth IRA in
2013, only 4.3 percent also contributed to a Traditional IRA. Of those contributing to a Traditional IRA, only 6.0 percent
contributed to a Roth IRA. Furthermore, 97.4 percent of those contributing to either a Traditional or Roth IRA in 2013
contributed to only that IRA. Thus, virtually all of those contributing to an IRA contribute to only one account.
16
Those accounts owned by individuals with an unspecified gender in the database had a similar overall likelihood of receiving
contributions than that of those with a known gender. However, Roth accounts of those with a unknown gender were slightly
more likely and Traditional accounts of those with a unknown gender slightly less likely to receive a contribution than were
accounts owned by those with a known gender. Yet, overall the results are very similar across gender possibilities in the
database, so there is no conclusive evidence that the male–female split is not overall representative despite the percentage
without a known gender.
17
All of the values in the longitudinal section are nominal dollars.
18
This sample includes 9.9 million individuals with $1.17 trillion (2013 value). Compare Figures 2 and 26 to see the
distribution of the individual owners by age and gender. The distributions are very similar.
19
The distribution of the percentage IRA balance changes became more negative for the oldest owners. For example, those
owners ages 70–74 had a 25th percentile of change at -1.4 percent and a median of 16.6 percent, owners ages 75–84 had a
25th percentile of -6.5 percent and a median of 11.4 percent, and those ages 85 or older a 25th percentile of -13.6 percent
and 4.1 percent for a median.
20
In an earlier EBRI publication, the persistence of contributions was investigated. A different formulation of the persistence
statistic based on the current-year contributors to see what percentage of those contributed in both of the prior years was
used. It was found that 21.8 percent of those making deductible contributions to an IRA in 1998 also made them in 1996 and
1997. Furthermore, three–fourths of those who contributed all three years made the maximum contribution in 1998,
compared with 70.4 percent of those who made a deductible contribution in 1998. See Craig Copeland, “IRA Assets and
Characteristics of IRA Owners,” EBRI Notes, no. 12 (Employee Benefit Research Institute, December 2002): 1–9.
34
Where the world turns for the facts on U.S. employee benefits.
Retirement and health benefits are at the heart of workers’, employers’, and our nation’s
economic security. Founded in 1978, EBRI is the most authoritative and objective source of
information on these critical, complex issues.
EBRI focuses solely on employee benefits research — no lobbying or advocacy.
EBRI stands alone in employee benefits research as an independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan
organization. It analyzes and reports research data without spin or underlying agenda. All findings,
whether on financial data, options, or trends, are revealing and reliable — the reason EBRI information is
the gold standard for private analysts and decision makers, government policymakers, the media, and
the public.
EBRI explores the breadth of employee benefits and related issues.
EBRI studies the world of health and retirement benefits — issues such as 401(k)s, IRAs, retirement
income adequacy, consumer-driven benefits, Social Security, tax treatment of both retirement and health
benefits, cost management, worker and employer attitudes, policy reform proposals, and pension assets
and funding. There is widespread recognition that if employee benefits data exist, EBRI knows it.
EBRI delivers a steady stream of invaluable research and analysis.

EBRI publications include in-depth coverage of key issues and trends; summaries of research
findings and policy developments; timely factsheets on hot topics; regular updates on legislative and
regulatory developments; comprehensive reference resources on benefit programs and workforce
issues; and major surveys of public attitudes.
EBRI meetings present and explore issues with thought leaders from all sectors.
EBRI regularly provides congressional testimony, and briefs policymakers, member organizations,
and the media on employer benefits.
EBRI issues press releases on newsworthy developments, and is among the most widely quoted
sources on employee benefits by all media.
EBRI directs members and other constituencies to the information they need and undertakes new
research on an ongoing basis.
EBRI maintains and analyzes the most comprehensive database of 401(k)-type programs in the
world. Its computer simulation analyses on Social Security reform and retirement income adequacy
are unique.
EBRI makes information freely available to all.
EBRI assumes a public service responsibility to make its findings completely accessible at www.ebri.org
— so that all decisions that relate to employee benefits, whether made in Congress or board rooms or
families’ homes, are based on the highest quality, most dependable information. EBRI’s Web site posts
all research findings, publications, and news alerts. EBRI also extends its education and public service
role to improving Americans’ financial knowledge through its award-winning public service campaign
ChoosetoSave® and the companion site www.choosetosave.org
EBRI is supported by organizations from all industries and sectors that appreciate the value of
unbiased, reliable information on employee benefits. Visit www.ebri.org/about/join/ for more.
th
1100 13 Street NW · Suite 878
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 659-0670
www.ebri.org
www.choosetosave.org
EBRI Employee Benefit Research Institute Issue Brief (ISSN 0887137X) is published monthly by the Employee Benefit Research Institute,
1100 13th St. NW, Suite 878, Washington, DC, 20005-4051, at $300 per year or is included as part of a membership subscription. Periodicals postage rate paid in Washington, DC, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: EBRI Issue Brief, 1100
13th St. NW, Suite 878, Washington, DC, 20005-4051. Copyright 2015 by Employee Benefit Research Institute. All rights reserved. No. 414.
Who we are
What we do
Our
publications
Orders/
Subscriptions
The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) was founded in 1978. Its mission is to
contribute to, to encourage, and to enhance the development of sound employee benefit
programs and sound public policy through objective research and education. EBRI is the only
private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, Washington, DC-based organization committed exclusively to
public policy research and education on economic security and employee benefit issues.
EBRI’s membership includes a cross-section of pension funds; businesses; trade associations;
labor unions; health care providers and insurers; government organizations; and service firms.
EBRI’s work advances knowledge and understanding of employee benefits and their
importance to the nation’s economy among policymakers, the news media, and the public. It
does this by conducting and publishing policy research, analysis, and special reports on
employee benefits issues; holding educational briefings for EBRI members, congressional and
federal agency staff, and the news media; and sponsoring public opinion surveys on employee
benefit issues. EBRI’s Education and Research Fund (EBRI-ERF) performs the charitable,
educational, and scientific functions of the Institute. EBRI-ERF is a tax-exempt organization
supported by contributions and grants.
EBRI Issue Briefs is a monthly periodical with in-depth evaluation of employee benefit issues
and trends, as well as critical analyses of employee benefit policies and proposals. EBRI
Notes is a monthly periodical providing current information on a variety of employee benefit
topics. EBRIef is a weekly roundup of EBRI research and insights, as well as updates on
surveys, studies, litigation, legislation and regulation affecting employee benefit plans, while
EBRI’s Blog supplements our regular publications, offering commentary on questions
received from news reporters, policymakers, and others. The EBRI Databook on Employee
Benefits is a statistical reference work on employee benefit programs and work force-related
issues.
Contact EBRI Publications, (202) 659-0670; fax publication orders to (202) 775-6312.
Subscriptions to EBRI Issue Briefs are included as part of EBRI membership, or as part of a
$199 annual subscription to EBRI Notes and EBRI Issue Briefs. Change of Address: EBRI,
1100 13th St. NW, Suite 878, Washington, DC, 20005-4051, (202) 659-0670; fax number,
(202) 775-6312; e-mail: [email protected]
Membership Information: Inquiries
regarding EBRI membership and/or contributions to EBRI-ERF should be directed to EBRI
President Dallas Salisbury at the above address, (202) 659-0670; e-mail: [email protected]
Editorial Board: Dallas L. Salisbury, publisher; Stephen Blakely, editor. Any views expressed in this publication and those of the authors should
not be ascribed to the officers, trustees, members, or other sponsors of the Employee Benefit Research Institute, the EBRI Education and
Research Fund, or their staffs. Nothing herein is to be construed as an attempt to aid or hinder the adoption of any pending legislation, regulation,
or interpretative rule, or as legal, accounting, actuarial, or other such professional advice. www.ebri.org
EBRI Issue Brief is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. ISSN: 0887137X/90 0887137X/90 $ .50+.50
© 2015, Employee Benefit Research InstituteEducation and Research Fund. All rights reserved.