Total U.S. retirement assets rose to a record $16.6 trillion in the first quarter of this year, up from $16.4 trillion at year-end 2006, according to a new statistical series launched today by the Investment Company Institute (ICI), the national association of U.S. mutual funds and other investment companies.
According to the ICI, retirement savings account for almost 40% of all household financial assets in the U.S. IRAs held more than $4.3 trillion in the first quarter of this year, up from $4.2 trillion at year-end 2006, while 401(k) plans showed $2.75 trillion in assets, compared to $2.7 trillion at the end of 2006. The ICI counted $4.16 trillion in all employer-based defined contribution plans at the end of the first quarter, up from $4.08 trillion for the whole of 2006.
