Ownership of Retirement Assets: Data in Brief

August 10, 2022 R47213

Ownership of Retirement Assets: Data in Brief
August 10, 2022
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
R47213

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Ownership of Retirement Assets: Data in Brief

Introduction
Retirement assets are one of several possible income sources in retirement. In 2019, about half of
U.S. households had retirement assets, which included savings in defined contribution (DC)
pension plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
In DC plans, workers are provided individual accounts funded by their own contributions,
contributions from their employers, or both.1 DC plans do not provide guaranteed income. The
funds in the account experience investment gains and losses, and the contributions and earnings,
if any, are used as a source of income in retirement. Examples of DC plans include 401(k) plans,
403(b) plans, 457(b) plans.2
IRAs are tax-advantaged accounts for individuals (or married couples) to save for retirement,
typically outside of the workplace.3 Though individuals with taxable (and certain non-taxable)
compensation may contribute directly to IRAs, the majority of inflows to IRAs come from
rollovers, which are transfers of savings from a retirement account, such as a 401(k) account, to
another retirement account, such as an IRA.4 Most workers with DC plans roll over their savings
to IRAs at job change or retirement.5
This report provides data on retirement asset ownership among U.S. households in 2019—
specifically, household ownership and account balances of DC accounts, IRAs, and retirement
assets (DC accounts plus IRAs)—to provide a snapshot of households’ retirement savings based
on different socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. As Congress considers various
retirement-related bills, a greater understanding of how households save for retirement—either
through DC plans, IRAs, or both—could help inform discussions.6
Data in this report is from the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). The SCF is a triennial
survey conducted on behalf of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and contains
detailed information on U.S. household finances, such as the amount and types of assets owned,
the amount and types of debt owed, and detailed demographic information on the reference
person and, if applicable, his or her spouse.7 The SCF is designed to be nationally representative

1 For more background on pension plans, see CRS Report R47119, Pensions and Individual Retirement Accounts
(IRAs): An Overview.
2 For more information on different types of DC plans, see CRS Report R47152, Private-Sector Defined Contribution
Pension Plans: An Introduction.
3 Congress has authorized two types of IRAs: traditional and Roth. Contributions to traditional IRAs may be deductible
from taxable income (depending on household adjusted gross income and workplace pension coverage), and
withdrawals are included in taxable income. Contributions to Roth IRAs are not tax-deductible, but qualified
distributions (those made after age 59½, death, or disability from an account that is at least five years old) are tax free.
An individual can move traditional IRA savings to a Roth IRA in what is referred to as a conversion. Congress has also
authorized several types of IRA-based retirement plans that employers can offer, such as SIMPLE IRAs and SEP-IRAs.
4 Examples of compensation include wages, salaries, tips, commissions, self-employment income, nontaxable combat
pay, and alimony (which is treated as compensation for IRA purposes).
5 Lump sum payments from defined benefit plans may also be rolled over to IRAs. In 2018 (the latest year for which
data are available), about 97% of inflows to traditional IRAs were from rollovers, while about 52% of Roth IRA
inflows came from rollovers and conversions.
6 See, for example, H.R. 2954 and S. 4353 in the 117th Congress, and the Enhancing American Retirement Now
section-by-section summary, at https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/
EARN%20Act%20section%20by%20section%20summary1.pdf.
7 The reference person is the single individual in a single-person household, the male in a mixed-sex couple household,
and the older individual in a same-sex couple household. The SCF codebook states that no judgment about the internal
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of the population of U.S. households, of which there were 128.6 million in 2019.8 Household in
the SCF is defined as “the primary economic unit, which consists of an economically dominant
single individual or couple (married or living as partners) in a household and all other individuals
in the household who are financially interdependent with that individual or couple.”
As previously mentioned, retirement assets are not the only source of income in retirement for
many households. Most households receive Social Security payments throughout retirement.
Social Security is a federal social insurance program that provides monthly benefits to insured
retired and disabled workers and their families.9 Because Social Security has a progressive benefit
structure, low earners generally receive higher replacement rates as measured by the amount of
pre-retirement earnings replaced by monthly benefits.10
Another source of income for many households—particularly among older households and those
in the public sector—is defined benefit (DB) plans, which are another type of employer-
sponsored pension plan that typically provide workers with monthly benefits throughout
retirement. The presence of Social Security and DB plans likely influences households’ retirement
saving decisions.
Household Ownership of Retirement Assets
Table 1 includes data on DC account ownership and balances, IRA ownership and balances, and
retirement asset ownership and balances (DC savings and IRA savings together) among U.S.
households in 2019.11 Ownership and balances refer to household ownership and account
balances (i.e., a household was counted as owning a DC account if anyone in the household
indicated having one; account balances were aggregated for all household members). Because the
analysis in this report calculates medians and averages for households with assets, note that the
actual median and average balance among all U.S. households would be lower.
Data in Table 1 demonstrate several points regarding household ownership of retirement assets in
2019:
 Over half (50.5%) of households had retirement assets in 2019. Among
households with retirement assets, the median balance was $65,000, and the
average balance was $255,469.
 Ownership rates and balances (among households with accounts) increased with
household income, net worth, and education level.12 For example, 85.2% of

organization of the household is implied by this organization of the data. In some cases, the respondent for a household
was different than the reference person. Data referring to the household respondent rather than the reference person is
noted throughout this report when applicable. In 79% of sampled households, the designated respondent was the
reference person. More information about the SCF, including the data and codebook, is available at
https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scfindex.htm. Because household wealth is highly concentrated, the SCF
includes an oversample of relatively wealthy households.
8 Estimates in this report are adjusted using population weights provided in the SCF dataset.
9 For more information on Social Security, see CRS Report R42035, Social Security Primer.
10 For more information on Social Security benefits, see CRS Report R46658, Social Security: Benefit Calculation.
11 A Keogh plan is a retirement plan for self-employed individuals. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) indicates that
the term Keogh is seldom used because the law no longer distinguishes between corporate and other plan sponsors.
CRS classified Keogh accounts as DC accounts in this report because IRS refers to Keogh plans as qualified plans.
12 Education level refers to the highest education level completed by the reference person at the time of the survey.
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households with household income of $125,000 or more had retirement assets,
compared to 12.5% of households with income of less than $30,000.
 Ownership and account balances varied based on the race or ethnicity of the
household respondent.13 Households in which the respondent identified as
Hispanic had the lowest rates of DC account and retirement asset ownership
(27.2% and 31.7%, respectively) compared to households in other racial groups
(which included those in which the respondent identified as White [non-
Hispanic], Black/African-American [non-Hispanic], or another race [non-
Hispanic]).14
 Married households had, on average, more than double the account balance
compared to single households. For example, the average retirement asset
balance for married households was nearly $310,000, compared to about
$140,000 for single households.
Table 1 illustrates the following regarding DC account ownership in 2019:
 Among U.S. households, 37.5% owned a DC account. Among households with
DC accounts, the median balance was $50,000, and the average balance was
$173,985.
 DC account ownership and balances peaked when the reference person was aged
45-54 then began to decline, likely due to households rolling over DC savings
into IRAs. In addition, older households were more likely to have retirement
income from a DB plan compared to relatively younger households (and so might
not have needed to save for retirement to the same extent as younger
households).15
 Households in which respondents identified their race or ethnicity as “Other”—
which included non-Hispanic respondents who indicated that they identified as
Asian, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or
another race not listed16—had the highest rates of DC account ownership (51.5%
owned a DC account), though DC account-owning households in which the
respondents identified as White, non-Hispanic, had the highest median and
average balances ($55,000, and $196,772, respectively).
Table 1 illustrates the following regarding IRA ownership in 2019:
 About one-quarter (25.4%) of households owned IRAs. Among IRA-owning
households, the median balance was $70,000, and the average balance was
$253,088.
 The median and average IRA balances for all IRA-owning households exceeded
those of DC account owners, despite IRA contribution limits being lower than

13 The SCF’s question about race or ethnicity is asked only of the designated respondent.
14 Hispanic household respondents may be of any race.
15 Over the past five decades, private-sector employees have become less likely to be covered by DB pension plans and
more likely to be covered by DC pension plans. See CRS In Focus IF12007, A Visual Depiction of the Shift from
Defined Benefit (DB) to Defined Contribution (DC) Pension Plans in the Private Sector.
16 The SCF combined these categories in the public dataset. The SCF noted that due to small sample sizes, the survey
did not have the statistical power to further disaggregate this group of families. The SCF allows respondents to indicate
more than one race or ethnicity. CRS used the first racial identification reported to classify household respondents. In
addition, any respondent who identified as Hispanic or Latino was classified as Hispanic, regardless of race.
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Ownership of Retirement Assets: Data in Brief

DC plan contribution limits.17 One reason for this is likely due to rollovers from
DC accounts as workers change jobs or retire. (The average age of the reference
person in an IRA-owning household was 56.5 compared to 47.5 for the reference
person in a DC account-owning household.) Another reason could be that IRA-
owning households are, at the median, wealthier than non-IRA-owning
households and are able to contribute more to both DC plans and IRAs. (In 2019,
the median household wealth of IRA-owning households was $580,030,
compared to $64,700 for non-IRA-owning households.)
 Over half (54.2%) of households with household income of $125,000 or greater
owned IRAs, compared to 6.7% of households with income of less than $30,000.

17 In 2019, for workers under age 50, the IRA contribution limit was $6,000 compared to a $19,000 elective deferral
limit for DC plans.
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Table 1. Retirement Asset Ownership and Account Balances Among U.S. Households in 2019

Defined Contribution (DC) Accounts
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)
Retirement Assets
Median
Average
Median
Average
Median
Average
Account
Account
Account
Account
Percentage
Asset
Asset
Percentage
Balance
Balance
Balance
Balance
of
Balance
Balance
of
(for
(for
Percentage
(for
(for
Households
(for
(for
Households
Household
Household
of
Household
Household
with
Household
Households
with DC
s with
s with
Households
s with
s with
Retirement
s with
with

Accounts
Accounts)
Accounts)
with IRAs
Accounts)
Accounts)
Assets
Assets)
Assets)
All Households
37.5%
$50,000
$173,985
25.4%
$70,000
$253,088
50.5%
$65,000
$255,469
Age of the Household Reference Person:
Younger than 35
40.4%
$13,000
$26,988
12.1%
$8,000
$22,822
45.3%
$13,000
$30,167
35-44
48.3%
$51,000
$107,646
22.1%
$52,000
$97,960
55.8%
$60,000
$131,952
45-54
49.9%
$73,000
$197,633
28.0%
$64,000
$175,452
57.9%
$100,000
$254,720
55-64
42.5%
$99,000
$305,324
30.1%
$100,000
$316,073
54.5%
$134,000
$408,420
65 and older
17.1%
$96,000
$288,795
32.9%
$125,000
$386,662
43.7%
$125,000
$403,384
2018 Household Income (in 2019 Dollars):
Less than $30,000
6.7%
$6,000
$27,553
6.7%
$23,200
$95,306
12.5%
$13,000
$66,024
$30,000-$49,999
25.6%
$12,000
$27,851
14.6%
$35,000
$87,567
37.0%
$18,000
$53,821
$50,000-$74,999
42.5%
$22,000
$59,342
21.8%
$36,000
$108,606
56.3%
$32,000
$86,678
$75,000-$124,999
53.0%
$43,000
$93,208
32.3%
$52,000
$181,937
69.8%
$58,600
$154,903
$125,000 or more
66.6%
$157,000
$365,082
54.2%
$142,800
$405,698
85.2%
$243,000
$539,991
Household Net Worth Quintile
1st (up to $6,370)
18.9%
$5,000
$11,890
4.3%
$2,900
$6,883
21.2%
$4,900
$12,018
2nd ($6,371 to
29.2%
$13,000
$20,111
6.5%
$5,000
$11,814
33.4%
$12,500
$19,906
$67,650)
3rd ($67,651 to
41.7%
$31,000
$42,012
15.4%
$15,000
$28,237
49.3%
$34,000
$44,308
$200,950)
CRS-5

Defined Contribution (DC) Accounts
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)
Retirement Assets
Median
Average
Median
Average
Median
Average
Account
Account
Account
Account
Percentage
Asset
Asset
Percentage
Balance
Balance
Balance
Balance
of
Balance
Balance
of
(for
(for
Percentage
(for
(for
Households
(for
(for
Households
Household
Household
of
Household
Household
with
Household
Households
with DC
s with
s with
Households
s with
s with
Retirement
s with
with

Accounts
Accounts)
Accounts)
with IRAs
Accounts)
Accounts)
Assets
Assets)
Assets)
4th ($200,951 to
45.3%
$77,000
$102,078
35.3%
$50,000
$73,746
64.5%
$85,000
$111,955
$557,160)
5th ($557,161 or
52.6%
$300,000
$484,578
65.5%
$210,000
$442,930
84.1%
$404,000
$644,659
greater)
Household Marital Status:
Married
46.4%
$60,000
$206,401
32.3%
$85,000
$293,354
61.2%
$85,000
$309,953
Single
26.3%
$27,000
$101,016
16.6%
$47,000
$152,723
36.9%
$40,000
$140,135
Single female
25.4%
$24,000
$69,451
16.7%
$44,300
$135,975
36.4%
$36,000
$110,961
Single male
27.5%
$34,400
$143,795
16.3%
$50,000
$177,885
37.6%
$46,000
$181,616
Race or Ethnicity of the Household Respondenta:
White, non-Hispanic
40.5%
$55,000
$196,772
32.1%
$75,000
$272,638
56.9%
$80,000
$292,423
Black/African-
American, non-
28.7%
$25,000
$99,451
9.4%
$38,000
$95,639
34.9%
$31,000
$107,410
Hispanic
Hispanic (any race)
27.2%
$28,100
$97,166
9.8%
$23,000
$118,685
31.7%
$31,000
$119,702
Other race, non-
51.5%
$50,000
$170,317
27.3%
$100,000
$241,999
62.9%
$70,000
$244,188
Hispanicb
Education Level of the Household Reference Person:
High school graduate
26.3%
$25,000
$88,387
12.7%
$40,000
$117,973
34.3%
$32,000
$111,436
or less
Some college or
33.4%
$30,000
$104,415
18.9%
$48,000
$137,542
44.4%
$42,000
$136,765
associate’s degree
CRS-6

Defined Contribution (DC) Accounts
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)
Retirement Assets
Median
Average
Median
Average
Median
Average
Account
Account
Account
Account
Percentage
Asset
Asset
Percentage
Balance
Balance
Balance
Balance
of
Balance
Balance
of
(for
(for
Percentage
(for
(for
Households
(for
(for
Households
Household
Household
of
Household
Household
with
Household
Households
with DC
s with
s with
Households
s with
s with
Retirement
s with
with

Accounts
Accounts)
Accounts)
with IRAs
Accounts)
Accounts)
Assets
Assets)
Assets)
Bachelor’s degree
51.6%
$57,000
$184,237
37.7%
$85,000
$292,436
67.4%
$87,300
$303,194
Advanced degree
(master’s,
51.9%
$119,000
$343,855
49.9%
$120,000
$373,130
75.9%
$170,000
$477,360
professional,
doctorate)
Source: CRS analysis of the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF).
Notes: Retirement assets refer to both DC accounts and IRAs. Median and average account balances are calculated using the aggregated value of all accounts within an
account category. (For example, the median DC balance refers to the median balance based on a household’s aggregated DC accounts.) Median and average account
balances refer to the balances of households with accounts in 2019. DC data includes Keogh accounts because the Internal Revenue Service refers to Keogh plans as
qualified plans. Amounts are in 2019 dollars.
a. The SCF’s question about race or ethnicity is asked only of the designated respondent. In 79% of sampled households, the designated respondent was the reference
person.
b. “Other” includes respondents who indicated that they identified as Asian, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, or another race not
listed. The SCF noted that due to small sample sizes, the survey did not have the statistical power to further disaggregate the group of families in which the
respondent identified as “other.” The SCF allows respondents to indicate more than one race or ethnicity. CRS used the first racial identification reported to classify
household respondents. In addition, any respondent that identified as Hispanic or Latino was classified as Hispanic, regardless of race.

CRS-7

Ownership of Retirement Assets: Data in Brief

Author Information

Elizabeth A. Myers

Analyst in Income Security

Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan
shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and
under the direction of Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other
than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in
connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not
subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in
its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or
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