New Ebri Research: Ira Assets Drop by 12 Percent Over Three Years, Keogh Contributions Show Steady Increase

Summary

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Total assets in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) declined for the third straight year in 2002 to a level nearly 12 percent below their 1999 peak, according to a new report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). The study, published in the February 2004 EBRI Notes, also found that the number of Americans making deductible contributions to IRAs has dropped steadily since 1990.

By contrast, the number contributing annually to Keogh accounts, which offer tax-sheltered retirement savings for the self-employed, has grown steadily. The number of such contributions rose by more than 50 percent between 1990 and 2001 and more than $13 billion was deposited to such accounts in 2001. Taxpayers deposited an added $7.4 billion in deductible contributions to IRA accounts that year. At the start of the period, IRA contributions outnumbered Keoghs by more than six to one. By the end, there were less than three IRA contributions per Keogh. During this period, Roth IRAs, which are not tax deductible, but instead allow accrual of untaxed gains, were introduced. However, a downward trend in deductible contributions to IRAs started before their introduction.

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New Ebri Research: Ira Assets Drop by 12 Percent Over Three Years, Keogh Contributions Show Steady Increase

IRA assets grew steadily every year f...

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