Benefits May 10, 2006

Retirement Assets Top $14 Trillion

May 10, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Americans held a record $14.3 trillion in retirement assets as of the end of 2005, according to the Investment Company Institute's (ICI) annual fact book.
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According to an ICI news release, the 6% growth in retirement assets during the year was mostly attributable to strong growth in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and employer-sponsored defined contribution plans. Investors held $7.3 trillion in IRAs and DC plans at year-end 2005, accounting for more than half of the entire retirement market, the release said.

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Of the total retirement assets, $3.4 trillion were invested in mutual funds, ICI data showed. Brian Reid, ICI Chief Economist, said in the release, “Retirement assets make up well over one-third of household financial assets at the end of 2005. Today’s workers face a range of potential challenges as they move toward retirement. But the data indicate that they are also building up their retirement savings and that mutual funds are a key vehicle through which households have accumulated and are accumulating wealth.”

Other key facts found in the publication include:

  • Ninety-one million individuals, comprising 54 million US households, owned mutual funds in 2005. The median fund-owning household held $48,000 in mutual funds in 2005.
  • Nearly 90% of fund shareholders invest through employer-sponsored plans (which generally offer menus of selected funds) or through financial advisors.
  • Investors are increasingly turning toward hybrid funds designed to meet their risk preferences (lifestyle funds) or to rebalance as investors age (lifecycle funds). In 2005, assets held in lifestyle funds grew by 67%; lifecycle fund assets grew by 59%.
  • Registered investment companies managed a record $9.5 trillion at year-end 2005. (That figure climbed to $10 trillion by March 2006.)
  • ETF assets grew 31% to $296 billion by year end.
  • Closed-end funds maintained their share of the investment market, rising 9% to $276 billion.
  • 529 college savings plan assets were $68.7 billion at the end of 2005.

The 2006 Investment Company Fact Book is here .

Benefits May 9, 2006

Working Moms Want More Time with Kids

May 9, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Fifty-two percent of working moms surveyed said they would be willing to take a pay cut to spend more time with their children.
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According to a CareerBuilder.com news release on its survey, this is significantly more than the 38% who said so last year. Almost one-in-ten said they would take a pay cut of 10% or more.

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One-in-four working moms said they are dissatisfied with their work/life balance and are actively seeking a new position with more flexibility, according to CareerBuilder.com. Ten percent of respondents say they bring work home three to five days a week, and 38% admit to missing at least two significant events in their children’s lives in the last year due to work. One-in-ten have missed more than five events.

“Twenty-six percent of career moms say their jobs are negatively impacting their relationships with their children,” said Mary Delaney, Chief Sales Officer at CareerBuilder.com, in the release.

There are options to help working moms feel more connected to their kids, however. More than half of working moms surveyed said their company offers some type of flexible working arrangement.

Others say a phone call to the kids makes them feel better. Twenty-eight percent report calling their kids from work at least once a day and 12% say they do so twice a day. Thirty percent of respondents said they usually do not get the chance to call their children while at work.

Survey responses were from more than 600 women working full-time, with children under 18 living at home.

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