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Benefits April 2, 2014
Record High Retirement Account Assets in 2013
April 2, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – At year-end 2013, retirement account assets were $19.018 trillion, according to Spectrem Group’s Retirement Market Insights Report 2014.
Reported by Sara Kelly
“It appears that the impact of the financial crisis of 2008 to 2009 has finally been overcome,” says Spectrem Group’s president, George H. Walper Jr. “Plan sponsors who reduced or eliminated matching contributions at that time have largely restored them, and participants maintained their commitment by continuing to contribute to their plans. These developments, combined with the strong investment market of the past year, generated the highest year-end retirement assets on record.”
According to the report, which is based on periodic surveys of retirement plan sponsors and participants, as well as publicly available data, last year’s retirement assets grew from $16.3 trillion at year-end 2012, following a strong equity market. These results were seen across all sectors of the retirement market:
- The private sector—$7,855.2 billion
- Individual retirement accounts (IRAs)—$6,201.6 billion
- The public sector—$3,975.4 billion
- 403(b) plans—$985.4 billion
The Retirement Market Insights Report 2014, which includes retirement gap findings and retirees’ largest expenses, can be purchased here.