At a Glance | February 14, 2019 Consistent IRA Ownership: Findings From the EBRI IRA Database Examining trends in IRA balances, contributions, and withdrawals from 2010–2016. ACCOUNT BALANCES Growth of IRA Balances Between 2010 and 2016 The average IRA balance for 1 All Account Consistent consistent owners increased 57 Owners Owners $163k percent from 2010 to 2016. This $154k $138k compares with the 35 percent $124k increase from 2010 to 2016 across Trad $112k Traditional IRAs $103k all IRAs in the database All $98k All IRA Types $92k (including new accounts). $52k $40k $25k Roth $27k Roth IRAs 2010 2016 2010 2016 CONTRIBUTIONS Number of Years Consistent Owners Contributed to Their IRAs Between 2010 and 2016 Consistent owners of traditional IRAs rarely made a contribution to them; All IRA Traditional Roth Types owners of Roth IRAs were more likely Consistent Owners: 2% to do so. 5% 9% Contributed every year 12% 21% 33% Contributed in at least one, but not every, year 86% 74% Did not contribute at all 58% WITHDR AWA L S Percentage of Consistent Owners of Traditional IRAs Who Withdrew an 2 Amount Equal to or Greater Than Their Required Minimum Distribution The majority of consistent owners of traditional IRAs who were ages 71 or older 11% did not take a withdrawal larger than their Took a withdrawal required minimum distribution (RMD) greater than their during the 2011–2016 period. RMD in all six years 57% Most consistent IRA Withdrew only their owners required minimum withdrew only each year their RMD 32% Withdrew a greater amount in at least one, 57+ 32+11J+ but not every, year 1. Of the 19.1 million unique individuals with accounts in the EBRI IRA database in 2016, 8.9 million had accounts for each year of the database going back to 2010. These 8.9 million individuals constitute the consistent sample, which provides insight into IRA usage over time when an account is maintained. 2. Distribution of the number of years traditional IRA owners ages 71 or older in 2010 took an amount larger than their required minimum distribution. Source: Craig Copeland, “ Individual Retirement Account Balances, Contributions, Withdrawals, and Asset Allocation Longitudinal Results 2010–2016: The EBRI IRA Database,” EBRI Issue Brief, no. 462 (Employee Benefit Research Institute, October 22, 2018). © 2019 EBRI