Piggy banks

Retirement assets grew nearly 3% from the prior quarter and stood at $29.2 trillion as of Sept. 30, according to the latest data from the Investment Company Institute. ICI also says that U.S. retirement assets now account for one-third of all household financial assets.

Individual retirement accounts

Assets in individual retirement accounts totaled $9.5 trillion at the end of the third quarter, a jump of 3% from the second quarter. Defined contribution plan assets ended the period at $8.1 trillion, up 3.3% from June 30.

Defined benefit plans

Government defined benefit plans (including federal, state and local government plans) were $6.1 trillion in Q3, a 2.9% increase from the earlier quarter. Also, private-sector DB plans held $3.2 trillion of assets, with annuity reserves outside of retirement accounts accounting for another $2.3 trillion.

Defined contribution plans

For employer-sponsored DC plans, assets totaled $8.1 trillion as of Q3 — of which $5.6 trillion were held in 401(k) plans.

Other private-sector DC plans accounted for $550 billion, with $1.0 trillion in 403(b)s, $332 billion in 457s, and $606 billion in the Federal Employees Retirement System's Thrift Savings Plan.

Mutual funds represented $3.7 trillion — or slightly more than two-thirds — of assets in 401(k) plans at the end of Q3. Equity funds, the most common type held in 401(k)s, accounted for $2.3 trillion of that, with hybrid funds —including target-date funds — accounting for $1.0 trillion.

IRAs

The Q3 total for IRAs amounted to $9.5 trillion in assets, with close to half ($4.5 trillion) held in mutual funds. Equity funds were the most common category of funds held in IRAs, at $2.6 trillion; they were followed by hybrids, at $949 billion.

Target-date funds

TDFs accounted for $1.2 trillion as of the end of Q3, an increase of 4.0% from Q2. Retirement accounts held the bulk of TDF assets, with more than 85% held in DC plans (67% of the total) and IRAs (20%).

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Instant Insights /

Retirement assets hit $29.2 trillion: ICI

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