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‘Investment Options and HSAs: Findings from the EBRI HSA Database,’ and ‘How Much Can Qualifying Longevity Annuity Contracts Improve Retirement Security?’

HSA Investment Options: Investment options in health savings accounts (HSAs) are a fairly new and not widely used option, but they tend to draw larger contributions and have higher balances where they do exist, according to a new analysis by EBRI.

Longevity Annuity Contracts: A recently authorized feature for 401(k) plans would allow workers to transform all or part of their retirement savings into a guaranteed stream of lifetime income, similar to what traditional pensions can provide. New modeling from EBRI finds this feature would be a significant help as a way to reduce their “longevity risk”—the risk of outliving their retirement savings—but only to those workers who can expect to have a long retirement.

EBRI Notes Aug 26, 2015 24 pages

“IRA Withdrawals in 2013 and Longitudinal Results 2010-2013,” and “Satisfaction With Health Coverage and Care: Findings from the 2014 EBRI/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey”

IRAs: Relatively few owners of individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are withdrawing money from them, and most of those who do are those over age 70-½ who are required by law to take a distribution from their Traditional IRA, according to new research by EBRI. Press release.

Satisfaction Gap: Individuals with health insurance continue to express higher satisfaction with traditional health plans compared with so-called “consumer-driven” plans, but the “satisfaction gap” appears to be narrowing, according to new research from EBRI. Press release

EBRI Notes Jul 16, 2015 24 pages

Intra-Family Cash Transfers in Older American Households

When family members help each other out--especially with the Baby Boom generation rapidly entering retirement--which way does the money flow: From old to young, or the other way around? New research from EBRI finds that, overwhelmingly, the generational transfer of money flows downhill: Mostly it’s older family members helping out their younger adult relatives than the other way around. EBRI Issue Brief Jun 18, 2015 32 pages

“Self-Insured Health Plans: State Variation and Recent Trends by Firm Size, 1996-2013,” and “Auto-IRAs: How Much Would They Increase the Probability of 'Successful' Retirements and Decrease Retirement Deficits? Preliminary Evidence from EBRI’s Retire ..

Self-Insured: Will small businesses follow the lead of bigger firms and start self-insuring their medical benefits to avoid the costs of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)? So far (up to 2013, the latest data available), there is no evidence that they are doing so, according to new research by EBRI.

Auto-IRAs: If “automatic IRAs” (individual retirement accounts) were made universal, how significant could their impact be for increasing retirement readiness and reducing the national retirement savings deficit? That depends largely on age, the default contribution rate and the opt-out rate (the percentage of eligible employees who choose not to participate), according to new research by EBRI.

EBRI Notes Jun 17, 2015 32 pages

“Characteristics of the Population With Consumer-Driven and High-Deductible Health Plans, 2005–2014,” and “Examining the New Income Measures in the Current Population Survey”

CDHPs: People of have so-called “consumer-driven” and high-deductible health plans tend to be older, more educated, and with higher incomes than those with traditional health plans, according to new research from EBRI. Press release.

Income Measures: A new analysis by EBRI shows that the new questions being used to measure income in the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey found a significant amount of income from IRAs and 401(k)-type plans was being missed across all levels of income for Americans age 65 or older. Press release.

EBRI Notes May 28, 2015 16 pages

“A Look at the End-of-Life Financial Situation in America,” and “Measured Matters: The Use of 'Big Data' in Employee Benefits”

End-of-Life Finances: New research by EBRI shows that a large percentage of individuals who died recently had little or no assets. Those who died relatively younger were even more likely to be in this situation. Press release.

Big Data: Since “big data” is changing so many aspects of the business world, how is it affecting the way health and retirement benefits are provided to private-sector workers? At a recent policy forum sponsored by EBRI, several national experts described how employers and researchers are making a major commitment to capturing and analyzing the vast amount of health and retirement data in their benefits plans. Press release.

EBRI Notes Apr 23, 2015 24 pages

“How Much Needs to be Saved for Retirement After Factoring In Post-Retirement Risks: Evidence from the EBRI Retirement Security Projection Model,®” and “Employer and Worker Contributions to Health Reimbursement Arrangements and Health Savings Account ..

Savings needs: How much do workers need to have saved for retirement at different ages? And based on their age and income, how much needs to be contributed to their defined contribution plan to ensure a financially successful retirement? New research from EBRI helps answer these important questions.

Health account contributions: Both employers and workers decreased their contributions to health savings accounts (HSAs) last year, according to new research from EBRI.

EBRI Notes Mar 26, 2015 28 pages

Utilization Patterns and Out-of-Pocket Expenses for Different Health Care Services Among American Retirees

How do retirees spend their out-of-pocket money on health care in retirement? New research from EBRI separates recurring and non-recurring health-care services and finds that usage and expenses of recurring health-care services remain stable throughout retirement, while usage of non-recurring ones increase with age and tend to be more expensive. EBRI Issue Brief Feb 23, 2015 24 pages

“Employee Tenure Trends, 1983–2014” and “Views on Employment-Based Health Benefits: Findings from the 2014 Health and Voluntary Workplace Benefits Survey”

Tenure Trends: American workers are continuing to stay a bit longer in their jobs, according to new data from EBRI. The overall median tenure of workers—the midpoint of wage and salary workers’ length of employment in their current jobs—was slightly higher in 2014, at 5.5 years, compared with 5.0 years in 1983. Press release.

Views on Health Benefits: Most workers are satisfied with the health benefits they have now, but nearly one-third express interest in changing the current mix of benefits and wages offered by their employers, according to the latest findings from EBRI. Press release.

EBRI Notes Feb 19, 2015 24 pages

“Maximizing Contributions to an HSA: Findings from the EBRI HSA Database,” and “Debt of the Elderly and Near Elderly, 1992–2013”

HSAs: Who contributes the maximum amount to their health savings accounts (HSAs)? New research by EBRI finds that about 15 percent of HSA owners contributed the maximum amount possible in 2013. Press release.

Debt: A larger share of older American families had debt in 2013, and those with debt loads that are considered problematic also increased, according to a new report from EBRI. Press release. 

EBRI Notes Jan 29, 2015 24 pages