Please click on the above chart to enlarge.
Source: Fidelity
Fidelity released their retirement balances data this week and Fidelity highlighted the following:
- Number of 401(k) Millionaires Increase 40 Percent from Q3 2017
- Contribution Rates for Women Reach Record Levels, at 8.5%
- Average 401(k) Balance for Millennials Saving for Five Years Straight Tops $80,000
- Average 401(k), 403(b) and IRA account balances reach record highs and have nearly doubled since 2008. The average 401(k) balance reached an all-time high balance of $106,500, surpassing the previous record high balance of $104,300 from Q4 2017. The average balance is seven percent higher than a year ago, but represents an 87 percent increase from the average balance of $56,900 in Q3 2008. The average IRA balance increased to $111,000, almost a 4 percent increase from last quarter and more than twice the average of $52,000 in Q3 2008. The average 403(b) account balance reached a record high of $85,500, nearly double the average balance of $43,300 in Q3 2008.
- Half of all 401(k) accounts now hold 100 percent of savings in a target date fund. For the first time, more than half (50.4 percent) of 401(k) savers have all of their assets in a target date fund. Just over 30 percent of overall 401(k) assets are in target date funds, up from 9.8 percent of overall assets in Q3 2008. In addition, slightly more than half (51 percent) of all “new” 401(k) contributions go into a target date fund. For 403(b) savers, the percentage of individuals who have all their assets in a target date fund climbed to 62 percent, a record high.
- Double-digit growth in the number of 401(k) and IRA millionaires. The number of people with $1 million or more in their 401(k) increased to 187,400 at the end of Q3, an increase of 41 percent from the 133,000 401(k) millionaires in Q3 2017 and nearly 10 times the 19,300 savers with a $1 million in their 401(k) in Q3 2008. The number of IRA millionaires increased to 170,400 in Q3 2018, an increase of 25 percent over a year ago.
