Should Employers Be Required to Provide Health Benefits?
EBRI Fast Facts Nov 8, 2007 1 pages
things
2007 Health Confidence Survey: Rising Health Care Costs Are Changing the Ways Americans Use the Health Care System
Rising health care costs are increasingly changing the way Americans use the health care system. Many of these changes are positive, but others, such as delaying going to the doctor and not filling or skipping doses of prescribed medications, could have a negative impact on patients’ health, according to the 2007 Health Confidence Survey (HCS). Press release EBRI Notes Nov 1, 2007 12 pages
Employment-Based Retirement Plan Participation: Geographic Differences and Trends, 2006
Participation in employment-based retirement plans fell about 2 percentage points in 2006 among workers with the strongest connection to the work force, according to a study published by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). In recent years, participation levels have tended to follow trends in the labor market, although the 2006 retirement plan participation decline occurred when the job market was stable. Press release EBRI Issue Brief Nov 1, 2007 36 pages
401(k)-Type Plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)
Individual account retirement plans, such as 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs), have continued to increase their share of retirement assets, and this share is projected to grow further, particularly for private-sector workers, according to a study published EBRI. The most recent data show that as of 2006, about $7.5 trillion in assets were held in IRAs and private-sector defined contribution plans such as 401(k)s, up from about $4.8 trillion in 2000. Press release EBRI Notes Oct 9, 2007 16 pages
Sources of Health Insurance and Characteristics of the Uninsured: Analysis of the March 2007 Current Population Survey
What kind of work do you do? What is your income? Are you a man or woman? How many are employed at the firm where you work? Do you work full time or part time? Answers to these questions are key determinants of an individual’s likelihood of having health insurance, according to the October 2007 EBRI Issue Brief, published by EBRI. EBRI Issue Brief Oct 4, 2007 36 pages
How Balances of Consistent 401(k) Account Holders Have Changed
EBRI Fast Facts Sept 27, 2007 1 pages
Who Are the Americans Age 55 and Older Working Full Time?
EBRI Fast Facts Sept 20, 2007 1 pages
T-149: Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council Working Group, hearing on “Financial Literacy and the Role of the Employer”
EBRI Testimony Sept 19, 2007 6 pages
Health Insurance and Taxes: Can Changing the Tax Treatment of Health Insurance Fix Our Health Care System?
Proposals to change the tax treatment of health insurance could mean the end of employment-based coverage as it now exists in the United States, according to a study by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI Issue Brief Sep 14, 2007 28 pages
The Expected Impact of Automatic Escalation of 401(k) Contributions on Retirement Income
This study by EBRI provides the first estimate of the expected impact of the automatic escalation provision in the Pension Protection Act of 2006, showing that it is likely to result in a significant increase in 401(k) accumulations, especially for low-income workers. Press release EBRI Notes Sep 12, 2007 12 pages
Minority Workers’ Expectations on Retiree Health Savings Needs
EBRI Fast Facts Aug 2, 2007 1 pages
'Employment Status of Workers Age 55 and Older,' and 'Assets in Qualified Retirement Plans, 1985–2005: Updated'
As an increasing percentage of older Americans are in the labor force, the trend toward more full-time, full-year work among older workers occurs across virtually every demographic group, according to an article published by the nonpartisan EBRI. These trends mark a significant change in behavior for individuals age 55 and older, and are likely driven by their need to obtain affordable employment-based health insurance (as opposed to unaffordable or unavailable coverage in the individual market) and the need to continue to accumulate savings in employment-based defined contribution retirement plans. Press release EBRI Notes Aug 2, 2007 12 pages
401(k) Plan Asset Allocation, Account Balances, and Loan Activity in 2006
The average account balance among American workers who consistently held 401(k) accounts from 1999 through 2006 increased at an annual rate of 8.7 percent, according to the latest analysis of the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database, the largest of its kind. Among this consistent group, the median, or midpoint, account balance increased at an annual rate of 15.1 percent. EBRI Issue Brief Aug 1, 2007 40 pages
'Gender Gap' Shrinking in Retirement Plan Coverage
EBRI Fast Facts July 26, 2007 1 pages
Retirement Income: Workers’ Expectations, Retirees’ Experience
EBRI Fast Facts July 19, 2007 1 pages
Experts Track Continuing Evolution of U.S. Pension System
More changes are anticipated for the U.S. pension system as a result of legislative and regulatory activity last year. The article recaps the experts’ reactions—at EBRI’s spring 2007 policy forum in Washington, DC—to major developments in the pension world: Enactment of the Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2006, which imposed new funding rules on pension plans, among other things, and major accounting rules issued by the private-sector Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the public-sector Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB). Press release EBRI Notes Jul 17, 2007 12 pages