At a Glance | November 12, 2020 IRA Contribution, Withdrawal, and Asset Allocation Behavior by Age CONTRIBUTIONS Percentage of IRAs That Received a Contribution, by Age in 2017 The percentage of Traditional 54% 51% All IRAs receiving a contribution 43% 41% Traditional did not differ dramatically by 34% 32% Roth age. Younger Roth IRA owners 26% 26% 23% 23% 22% were materially more likely to 20% 19% 16% 14% contribute to their Roth IRA 12% 12% 12% 11% 10% 10% 10% 9% 9% 8% 8% 7% 6% 6% 5% than were older Roth IRA 4% 1% 0 owners. Under 25 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50–54 55–59 60–64 65–69 70+ Preretirement Retirement WITHDR AWA L S IRA Owners Taking a Withdrawal, by Age in 2017 85% Conversely, the percentage of 82% 80% Traditional IRA owners taking a 74% All withdrawal increased with age. Traditional The percentage of Roth IRA Roth owners with a withdrawal increased negligibly as account owners aged. The sharp 28% 26% increase in the 71-or-older age 17% 16% group is consistent with the 9% 1 5% 9% 7% 7% 7% RMD rules. 6% 6% 5% 5% 5% 5% 3% 3% 3% 2% Under 30 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–64 65–70 71–79 80+ Preretirement Retirement ASSET ALLOCATION IRA Asset Allocation, by Age in 2017 IRA equity allocations peaked Age Balanced Fund Equity Bond Money Other by ages 45–54. Equities, Preretirement Under 25 22.7% 49.9% 16.1% 1.9% 9.4% including the equity portion of 25–44 26.8% 49.7% 4.6% 8.6% 10.4% balanced funds, peaked for 45–54 accounts owned by those ages 18.4% 52.7% 7.6% 8.1% 13.2% 25–44. Those allocations then 55–59 16.7% 49.1% 10.8% 8.6% 14.8% declined through ages 65–70. 60–64 15.4% 44.7% 14.3% 9.1% 16.5% Retirement 65–70 14.5% 42.7% 16.4% 9.1% 17.3% 71–74 13.0% 43.6% 17.4% 8.4% 17.6% 75–84 11.7% 45.7% 17.6% 7.8% 17.3% 85+ 11.3% 47.0% 17.3% 7.9% 16.4% 1. RMD = required minimum distribution. SOURCE: Craig Copeland, “EBRI IRA Database: IRA Balances, Contributions, Rollovers, Withdrawals, and Asset Allocation, 2017 Update,” EBRI Issue Brief, no. 513 (Employee Benefit Research Institute, September 17, 2020). © 2020 EBRI This report is copyrighted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). You may copy, print, or download this report solely for personal and noncommercial use, provided that all hard copies retain any and all copyright and other applicable notices contained therein, and you may cite or quote small portions of the report provided that you do so verbatim and with proper citation. Any use beyond the scope of the foregoing requires EBRI’s prior express permission. For permissions, please contact EBRI at permissions@ebri.org.