Average retirement account assets per U.S. household increased by more than 10 percent during the last eight years, according to a new report.
Commissioned by the American Council of Life Insurers, the American Benefits Council and the Investment Company Institute, the report, "Our Strong Retirement System: An American Success Story," explores how the retirement system contributes to Americans' retirement security and concludes that the financial resources for retirement have improved since the 1990s.
The report reveals that average retirement assets per U.S. household, as measured in constant 2012 dollars, reached $167,800 in June 2013, up from $150,300 in 2005, an 11.6 percent rise. The 2013 total is also up markedly from the amounts reported in 1995 ($105,400), 1985 ($56,200) and 1975 ($27,300).
"A number of broad measures of retirees' well-being indicate that the U.S. retirement system has successfully provided for American workers during retirement, and that successive generations of retirees have been better off than previous generations," the report states. "These measures include rising levels of assets earmarked for retirement; measures of retirees' wealth income and consumption; and studies of workers' savings for retirement."
