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EBRI

Workers Rank Health Care as the Most Critical Issue in the United States

Workers rank health care as the most critical issue in the nation, according to new research from EBRI. The survey also finds that a majority of workers describe the health care system as poor or fair, though workers’ satisfaction in their own health plans remains high. Rising health care costs have implications for financial wellbeing among workers. Of the one-half of workers reporting cost increases, 26 percent state they have decreased their contributions to retirement plans, and 43 percent have decreased their contributions to other savings. The survey was made possible with funding support from the following organizations: AXA Equitable Financial Services, LLC, Cigna, Mercer LLC, Prudential Financial Inc., The Segal Group, Inc., and Unum Group. EBRI Notes Jan 25, 2018 14 pages

Individual Retirement Account Balances, Contributions, Withdrawals, and Asset Allocation Longitudinal Results 2010–2015

Using the EBRI IRA Database, this Issue Brief examines the trends in account balances, contributions, withdrawals, and asset allocation in IRAs from 2010-2015. Results from both the annual cross-sectional samples and a consistent sample of IRA owners who have been in the database in each year from 2010-2015 are presented. The cross-sectional overall average balance increased 36.1 percent from 2010 to 2015, while the increase for those IRA owners who continuously owned IRAs from 2010-2015 was 47.1 percent. Similarly, the cross-sectional share of assets allocated to equities increased from 45.7 percent in 2010 to 54.7 percent in 2015, while among consistent account owners, the share of assets allocated to equities increased from 44.5 percent in 2010 to 52.6 percent in 2015. Finally, among consistent Traditional IRA owners, 87.2 percent did not contribute to the IRA in any year, as opposed to 60.1 percent of consistent Roth IRA owners not contributing in any year. EBRI Issue Brief Jan. 10, 2018 32 pages