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What Does Consistent Participation in 401(k) Plans Generate? Changes in 401(k) Account Balances, 2007–2012

The average account balance of workers who participated consistently in a 401(k) plan from year-end 2007 to year-end 2012 increased at a compound average annual growth rate of 6.8 percent during that period, despite a 34.7 percent drop in that group’s average 401(k) account balance in 2008, according to a new study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and the Investment Company Institute (ICI). The increase in account balances reflects several factors, including employer and worker contributions, investment returns, withdrawals, and loans. EBRI Issue Brief Jul 31, 2014 28 pages

“Lifetime Accumulations and Tax Savings from HSA Contributions” and “IRA Withdrawals in 2012 and Longitudinal Results, 2010–2012”

HSAs: With an ever-increasing number of Americans gaining access to health savings accounts (HSAs) via their employment-based health plan, how much could they accumulate for health care expenses in these accounts? The answer depends on how much is contributed to the HSA—a tax-exempt trust or custodial account that an individual can open and use to pay his or her health care expenses—as well as how much is withdrawn, and what the investment return and fees on the HSA are, according to new research by EBRI. Press release.

IRAs: Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are a vital component of U.S. retirement savings, representing approximately one-quarter of all retirement assets in the nation. But as a growing number of Americans head into retirement, how much are they withdrawing from these accounts—and will it last? Press release

EBRI Notes Jul 29, 2014 24 pages

Employee Benefits: Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday

While much has changed with health and retirement benefits during the past three decades—the first generation of the main federal law governing private-sector benefits, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)—many of the issues that were present at the founding of EBRI in 1978 remain with us today. EBRI Issue Brief Jul 24, 2014 24 pages

“’Short’ Falls: Who’s Most Likely to Come up Short in Retirement, and When?” and “Consumer Engagement Among HSA and HRA Enrollees: Findings from the 2013 EBRI/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey”

“Short” Falls: Will Baby Boomers and Gen Xers have enough money to live on when they retire, and if not, when will they run short? New modeling by EBRI finds that those in the lowest-income brackets are most likely to run short, many in the first year of retirement. But some in all income brackets—including the highest—may also run short at some point during their retirement.

HSA/HRA Consumer Engagement: Which type of health plan is more likely to get workers involved in their own health care: Health savings accounts or health reimbursement arrangements? The two account-based types of health insurance are similar, but a new report from EBRI finds that people with HSAs are more likely to engage in cost-conscious behavior related to use of health care services than are those in HRA.

EBRI Notes Jun 19, 2014 20 pages