A report released in November by the Investment Company Institute found that IRA owners are likely to adopt other complex planning and savings behaviors. The report found 73% of households that own a traditional IRA said they have a multi-step plan for managing income and assets after they stop working.
Among the strategies cited in the study are setting aside emergency funds, developing a retirement income plan, reviewing insurance policies, determining retirement expenses and determining when to take Social Security benefits.
The report, "The Role of IRAs in U.S. Households' Saving for Retirement, 2013," found 63% of those traditional-IRA-owning households are also working with an advisor on their retirement strategy.
Sarah Holden, ICI's senior director of retirement and investor research, called IRA owners "good stewards" of their assets. "This study highlights the thoughtful and thorough approach that IRA-owning households take in preparing for their retirement," she said in a statement.
IRA assets continued to show moderate growth in the second quarter. ICI found assets in IRAs as of Q2 were near $6 trillion, up 0.9% since the first quarter, and accounted for more than a quarter of all retirement assets in the United States. Total retirement assets were about $21 trillion, more than a third of all household financial assets.
