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In the first three quarters of 2019, just a few more participants in defined contribution plans took money fromtheir plans than they did in the first three quarters of 2018.
|So says a report from the Investment Company Institute, whichpointed out that it wasn't a large change from the prior year—3.3percent of participants took withdrawals, compared with 2.9 percentin 2018—and that hardship withdrawals actually fell just afraction, with 1.6 percent of DC plan participants taking ahardship withdrawal compared with 1.4 percent during the sameperiod.
|Contribution rates also remained high. While 2.2 percent ofparticipants stopped contributions during the first three quartersof 2018, in 2019 just 1.9 percent halted their contributions duringthe same period.
|When it comes to asset allocation, most participants stuck withwhat they had during increases in the stock market when it came tobalances. There was a little less reallocation going on as themarket boomed, with just 7.1 percent of DC plan participantschanging their account balance asset allocations during the firstthree quarters of 2019. In 2018, 8.4 percent did so during the sameperiod.
|For contribution asset allocations, 4.2 percent made changesduring the first three quarters of 2019, while in 2018 slightlymore did so, at 4.4 percent.
|The needle barely moved on loans, with the first three quartersof 2019 seeing 16.3 percent of participants having outstandingloans, while for the same period in 2018 the number was 16.4percent.
|DC plan assets, the report says, represent some 28 percent ofU.S. retirement assets overall, and as of the end of the thirdquarter of 2019 close to a tenth of U.S. households' aggregatefinancial assets.
|ICI points out that during 2019's first three quarters, stockprices overall were up, and on net, the S&P 500 total returnindex gained 20.6 percent during the period.
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