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‘Total Individual Account Retirement Plan Assets, by Demographics, 2007, With Market Adjustments to March 2010,’ and ‘Retirement Annuity and Employment-Based Pension Income, Among Individuals Age 50 and Over: 2008’

Assets in individual account retirement plan assets are concentrated in families with a set of common characteristics—higher net worth, higher family income, higher educational attainment, with older family heads, and with white, non-Hispanic heads, according to a study released by EBRI. Press release EBRI Notes May 6, 2010 20 pages

The Impact of the Recession on Employment-Based Health Coverage

Not surprisingly, the percentage of the nonelderly (under age 65) without employment-based health insurance coverage has grown during the recession, according to a study published today by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). But in addition, for those who still have employment-based health insurance, deductibles and co-payments for office visits also have increased. EBRI Issue Brief May 4, 2010 24 pages

The Impact of Automatic Enrollment in 401(k) Plans on Future Retirement Accumulations: A Simulation Study Based on Plan Design Modifications of Large Plan Sponsors

New research from the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) finds that auto-enrollment of participants in 401(k) plans is likely to be most beneficial to young and low-income workers, although high-income workers are likely to benefit from it as well. It also confirms earlier results that large employers adopting auto-enrollment have significantly increased the employer “match” to their workers’ own 401(k) contributions. EBRI Issue Brief Apr 1, 2010 24 pages

'The Use of Health Savings Accounts for Health Care in Retirement,' and'Tax Expenditures and Employee Benefits: Estimates from the FY 2011 Budget'

Health savings accounts (HSAs) are likely to play a minor part in savings for health care costs in retirement, according to a report issued by EBRI. That’s because both statutory contribution limits and currently low interest rates constrain the amount HSAs are able to generate, compared with the large amount needed to pay for retiree health expenses. Press release EBRI Notes Apr 1, 2010 12 pages

The 2010 Retirement Confidence Survey: Confidence Stabilizing, But Preparations Continue to Erode

Americans’ confidence in their ability to retire appears to be stabilizing, now that the economic volatility of the recession has abated, but their self-described preparations for retirement continue to erode, according to the 2010 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) released by EBRI and Mathew Greenwald and Associates. However, the RCS also finds that a growing number of American workers are also planning to delay retirement—which has negative implications for the U.S. job market, where unemployment is high and layoffs continue to grow. As older workers stay at their jobs longer, the RCS results suggest that fewer existing jobs are likely to open up. EBRI Issue Brief Mar 9, 2010 44 pages

Employers, Workers, and the Future of Employment-Based Health Benefits

Since the vast majority of Americans who have health coverage get it through their jobs, one obvious question raised by the health reform legislation pending in Congress is: How might it affect the U.S. employment-based health benefits system? At a recent day-long conference sponsored by EBRI, more than a dozen experts from a wide range of specialties found consensus on one point: Imposing a tax on health benefits (such as the proposed tax on so-called “Cadillac” health plans) is likely to cause major cuts in health benefits and might result in structural changes in the employment-based benefits system. EBRI Issue Brief Feb 16, 2010 24 pages