• Rollovers to IRAs in 2016, regardless of the source, amounted to over 16 times more Ne ws from E B R I than the total contributions in the database, with the average and median rollover to a Traditional IRA in 2016 being $94,238 and $21,383, respectively. DATE: August 30, 2018 • Just under 11 percent of all accounts in the database received a contribution in 2016, but CONTACT: EBRI Media Relations – press-media@ebri.org Roth IRAs were more likely to receive a contribution than Traditional IRAs (24.9 percent Craig Copeland, author – copeland@ebri.org vs. 5.5 percent). • Almost 24 percent of individuals owning a Traditional or Roth IRA took a withdrawal in 2016, including 27.1 percent of Traditional IRA owners compared with 4.6 percent of Combining All IRAs Owned by Individuals Is Key to Roth IRA owners. Measuring Their Total Potential Retirement Savings; • One-half of all IRA assets were allocated to equities, although this varied with owner Required Minimum Distribution Rules Continue to Be age, account balance, and IRA type. Major Determinant in IRA Withdrawals • Those owning Traditional IRAs had, on average, lower allocations to equities. In addition, equity allocations peaked for both Traditional and Roth IRA owners ages 45– Washington, D.C. – To better determine the potential total retirement savings of an individual, 54. IRAs with the largest and smallest balances had the lowest combined exposure to it’s key to measure not only the unique individual retirement account (IRA) balance, but also the equities (including the equity share of balanced funds). combination of all IRAs an individual owns. This is according to new research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), a private, non-partisan, nonprofit research group. EBRI’s • Overall in 2016, 28.6 percent of IRAs had less than 10 percent in equities and 26.6 latest findings show that the overall cumulative IRA average balance per individual is 27 percent percent had more than 90 percent in equities, so-called “extreme allocations” in a larger than the IRA balance per account. particular asset category. Also, more than 1 in 5 IRAs (23.4 percent) had more than 90 percent of their assets in bonds and money. EBRI’s database covers research results on the distribution of IRA types and account balances, contributions, rollovers, withdrawals, and asset allocation in IRAs, as well as certain The full report is the eighth annual cross-sectional analysis of the EBRI IRA database. It includes demographic characteristics of the account owner for the year 2016, the latest data available. results on the distribution of IRA types and account balances, contributions, rollovers, withdrawals, and asset allocation in IRAs for 2016, the latest data available. “EBRI’s findings for 2016 contain information on over 24.2 million accounts owned by some 19.1 million individuals with total assets of $2.36 trillion,” said Craig Copeland, EBRI senior The full Issue Brief is available here. A related EBRI Fast Fact is located here. research associate and author of the IRA report. “The report shows that in 2016, 22.7 percent of those ages 71 or older were found to have Traditional IRA withdrawals in excess of their About EBRI: required minimum distributions (RMDs), meaning that over three-quarters took only the amount they were required to take.” The Employee Benefit Research Institute is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute based in Washington, D.C. that focuses on health, savings, retirement, and economic security The RMD rules only apply to Traditional IRA owners, where beginning in the year owners turn issues. EBRI does not lobby and does not take policy positions. The work of EBRI is made age 70-½, they are required to make an annual minimum distribution (withdrawal). The RMD possible by funding from its members and sponsors, who include a broad range of public, rules do not apply to Roth IRA owners. Consequently, only 6.2 percent of Roth IRA owners ages private, for-profit, and nonprofit organizations. For more information go to www.ebri.org 71–79 took a withdrawal in 2016. ### Some key findings of the EBRI IRA analysis: • The average IRA account balance in the database was $97,515 at year-end 2016, and the average IRA individual balance (when all accounts owned by the individual are combined) was $123,973 – a 27 percent larger balance when all of an individual’s accounts are considered. • Average IRA account balances differed significantly by the IRA type. Roth IRAs had the lowest average balance, while Traditional IRAs had the highest average balances. 1219 EBRI on Twitter: @EBRI or http://twitter.com/EBRI EBRI RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/EBRI-RSS