Issue Briefs

A new EBRI analysis of the impact of the recent financial crisis on average 401(k) retirement plan balances from Jan. 1, 2008, to Jan. 20, 2009, shows that participants’ losses were largely determined by their account balance, age, and job tenure. EBRI Issue Brief Feb 23, 2009 24 pages

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

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

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

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

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

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

A new survey shows that about two-thirds of “traditional” (defined benefit) pension sponsors have either changed the plan in the last two years or intend to do so in the next two years. The most frequent plan changes have been to close the defined benefit plan to new hires or freeze it for all members. Pension plan sponsors say the driving forces behind these pension benefit reductions are a new law by Congress that in some cases significantly increases their pension plan costs, and pending accounting rule changes that are also expected to dramatically increase the cost and risk of offering a pension benefit to workers. EBRI Issue Brief Jul 10, 2007 32 pages

Although minority workers are at least as likely as American workers overall to feel confident about their retirement security, their preparations lag behind, according to the 2007 Minority Retirement Confidence Survey (MRCS). According to the survey, less than half of African-American workers (48 percent, down from 62 percent in 2003) and Hispanic workers (41 percent, down from 60 percent in 2003) say they have saved money for retirement, making them less likely than workers overall (66 percent) to have saved. EBRI Issue Brief Jun 5, 2007 20 pages