Assets in IRAs Reach Record High

January 17, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Assets in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) reached a record high of $3.48 trillion in 2004, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).

IRAs held more retirement savings than employer-sponsored plans, with defined contribution plan assets equaling $2.66 trillion and defined benefit plan assets equaling $1.81 trillion in 2004, according to the EBRI study.

The study also documents that, while assets in IRAs have increased, the percentage of workers age 16 or older who had an IRA fell from 18.8% in 1992 to 16.7% in 2002.  

In 2002 more IRAs were owned by workers older than 50 than by younger workers, and white workers (20.3%) owned more IRAs than black (5.4%) or Hispanic (4.8%) workers.

IRA ownership was virtually the same for men (17%) and women (16.3%).

The study is  here .

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