2008 Issue Briefs

More than 7 percent of 401(k) assets at year-end 2007 were invested in lifecycle funds and one-quarter of 401(k) participants held lifecycle funds, according to analysis by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and the Investment Company Institute (ICI). The findings are part of the annual update of the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database, the largest of its kind, and represent the two groups' first application of the database to examine investors' use of lifecycle funds. EBRI Issue Brief Dec 18, 2008 52 pages

This article provides findings from the 2008 EBRI Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey, as well as earlier surveys, examining the availability of HRA and HSA-eligible plans (so-called consumer-driven health plans or CDHPs). It also looks at employer and individual contribution behavior, time enrolled in such plans, account balances, and rollover behavior. It found that contributions to CDHPs are growing and that account balances are increasing. Press release EBRI Notes Dec 11, 2008 16 pages

Annuity Income: Ltest data confirm earlier findings that gender, marital status, age, education, and other demographic variables have a significant impact on the likelihood of a worker receiving a retirement annuity and/or employment-based pension income in retirement. Employer Spending on Benefits: Employer spending on total compensation continues to increase, reaching almost $8 trillion at year-end 2007 or almost 35 percent higher in 2000. Wages and salaries accounted for the lion’s share, $6.4 trillion (or 81.4 percent), while benefits made up the remainder, $1.5 trillion (18.6 percent).  Press release EBRI Notes Nov 26, 2008 12 pages

Enrollment in consumer-directed or high-deductible health plans eligible for a tax-preferred savings account increased to 9.8 million adults this year, with participants more likely to have higher incomes and be in better health than those with traditional health coverage, according to survey results released by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI Issue Brief Nov 18, 2008 44 pages

The percentage of workers participating in an employment-based retirement plan increased significantly in 2007 for the first time since 1998, with the increase affecting virtually all categories of workers, according to a study released today by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). EBRI Issue Brief Oct 9, 2008 40 pages

Americans continued to be battered by rising health care costs this year, with more than half of those with health insurance reporting they experienced higher costs. Some said the increases adversely affected their household finances and some said the U.S. health care system is so flawed that it should be completely overhauled, according to the 2008 Health Confidence Survey (HCS). Press release EBRI Notes Oct 7, 2008 16 pages

IRAs: More retirement assets are held in individual retirement accounts than any other vehicle, totaling $4.75 trillion at year-end 2007. Domestic Partner Benefits: This article updates previous research by EBRI providing information on why employers offer domestic partner health benefits, legal issues involved, recent developments, and current data. Press release EBRI Notes Sep 11, 2008 16 pages

The percentage of the non-elderly population (under age 65) with health insurance coverage increased to 82.8 percent in 2007. While the percentage of the non-elderly population with employment-based health benefits was unchanged between 2006 and 2007, and the percentage with public coverage increased, resulting in a decrease in the uninsured, this should not be viewed as an indicator of things to come in 2008. EBRI Issue Brief Sep 9, 2008 36 pages

The current trend in health care design toward “consumer-driven” health plans illustrates the same trend seen in 401(k) plans where benefit decision-making and responsibility have shifted from the employer to the worker. This report looks at lessons learned in the retirement realm with respect to offering workers choice, financial incentives, and more information and education. This is compared with the early evolution of consumer-driven health plans, which are still being driven solely by the market and not by legislation. EBRI Issue Brief Aug 12, 2008 28 pages

The first article notes that more than 12 million immigrants in the United States were uninsured in 2006, accounting for almost 27 percent of all uninsured individuals in the country (press release). The second article finds that statutory contribution limits make it unlikely HSAs will play more than a minor part in savings for health care costs in retirement (press release). EBRI Notes Aug 5, 2008 16 pages

Nearly two years after the Pension Protection Act (PPA) of 2006 became law, the legislation’s “automatic” provisions—automatically enrolling new workers in their employers’ 401(k) plans, automatically putting their contributions into age-appropriate “default” investments, and automatically increasing their annual contributions—are beginning to have the desired effect, according to speakers at EBRI's semi-annual policy forum. Press release EBRI Notes Jul 10, 2008 12 pages

Employers have a narrow window of up to two years in which they may be able to change retiring workers’ decisions by offering them incentives to remain with the company, according to results of a new survey released by EBRI. EBRI Issue Brief Jul 10, 2008 24 pages

A new EBRI analysis finds that the “automatic” 401(k) features in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA)—such as auto-enrollment of workers and auto-escalation of their savings contributions—are likely to have a very significant positive impact in generating additional retirement savings for many workers, especially for low-income workers. EBRI Issue Brief Jun 27, 2008 24 pages

'Benefit Cost Comparisons:' State and local government employers and private-sector employers have sharply different compensation costs, driven by the different nature of public- vs. private-sector work. Press release   'Individual Accounts': Half of families in the United States do not own an individual account retirement plan at all, but of those that do own at least one plan, most own only one. EBRI Notes Jun 17, 2008 12 pages

This Issue Brief examines the uncertainty of health care expenses in retirement by using a Monte Carlo simulation model to estimate the amount of savings needed to cover health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket health care expenses. This type of simulation is able to account for the uncertainty related to individual mortality and rates of return, and computes the present value of the savings needed to cover health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket expenses in retirement. These observations were used to determine asset targets for having adequate savings to cover retiree health costs 50, 75, and 90 percent of the time. Press release  EBRI Issue Brief May 30, 2008 28 pages

Growth in the number of 401(k)-type plans and the number of participants in those plans, which increased sharply in the 1990s, has slowed in recent years, according to a new EBRI study. Press release EBRI Notes May 13, 2008 20 pages

This article provides reaction to and analysis of results from the “2007 EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Survey,” published in the March 2008 EBRI Issue Brief (Press release).  Facts from EBRI provides the latest annual financial projections from the Social Security Board of Trustees, as well as background on the Social Security program.

EBRI Notes Apr 16, 2008 12 pages

Reflecting the growing concern over health care costs and economic issues, American workers' confidence in being able to afford a comfortable retirement decreased over the past year by a rate unmatched in the 18 years of the Retirement Confidence Survey® (RCS), according to results released by EBRI. EBRI Issue Brief Apr 9, 2008 24 pages

Assets in individual account retirement plans are concentrated in families with high family income and higher net worth, as well as in families with older family heads, higher educational attainment, and white, non-Hispanic family heads, according to a study released by EBRI. Press release EBRI Notes Mar 20, 2008 12 pages

Enrollment in consumer-driven and high-deductible health plans increased in 2007, but still makes up a small segment of the overall insurance market, according to the third EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Survey. Enrollment in consumer-driven plans with a tax-advantaged account was 2 percent of the privately insured adults in 2007. One in 10 insured adults had high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) without accounts. The survey also found the percentage of consumer-driven plan enrollees with high incomes (above $100,000) swelled in 2007. EBRI Issue Brief Mar 18, 2008 52 pages