Issue Briefs

A new EBRI study shows the value of preserving lump-sum distributions from 401(k) and assets from other retirement plans when you switch jobs: “A significantly higher percentage of those who spent their lump-sum distributions entirely reported their standard of living (in retirement) as being somewhat or much worse than was reported by those who rolled over their entire distribution (24.5 percent compared with 16.2 percent),” the study says. EBRI Issue Brief Jan 10, 2006 44 pages

This Issue Brief examines the level of participation by workers in public- and private-sector employment-based pension and retirement plans, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s March 2005 Current Population Survey (CPS), the most recent data currently available. EBRI Issue Brief Oct 12, 2005 36 pages

This report updates research on 401(k) plan participant activity through year-end 2004, using the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database -- the largest database of its kind and an ongoing collaborative effort between the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and the Investment Company Institute (ICI). Among its key findings: Consistent participation in 401(k) plans remains essential to successful saving; equity investing remains popular in 401(k) plans; investment preferences are shifting to simpler options; loans are widely available, but rarely taken. EBRI Issue Brief Sep 28, 2005 20 pages

Automatically enrolling new workers appears to be a significant factor in increasing account balances in 401(k) plans, with lower-income individuals benefiting the most, according to a new model developed by EBRI and the Investment Company Institute (ICI). The finding is important because employment-based 401(k) plans have become the dominant retirement savings option for millions of American workers, and the amount of retirement income many Americans will have when they reach 65 will depend to a large degree on how long they participate in a 401(k) plan, how much they contribute to the plan, and how they invest their 401(k) assets. EBRI Issue Brief Jul 13, 2005 28 pages

which seeks to provide answers to how the public will be affected by fundamentally different approaches to Social Security reform. This analysis compares "Model 2" individual accounts from the 2001 President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security (the closest detailed proposal to what President Bush has endorsed) with three basic options: Raising taxes, imposing sharp ("cliff") benefit cuts, and gradually reducing benefits. EBRI Issue Brief May 1, 2005 32 pages

EBRI Issue Brief Apr 1, 2005 32 pages

EBRI Issue Brief Mar 1, 2005 20 pages

EBRI Issue Brief Jan 1, 2005 36 pages

EBRI Issue Brief Jun 1, 2004 16 pages

EBRI Issue Brief May 1, 2004 36 pages