Over the past three decades, 401(k) plans have become the most
widespread private-sector employer-sponsored retirement plan in the United States.1 In 2015, an estimated 54 million American workers were active 401(k) plan participants.2 By year-end 2015, 401(k) plan assets had grown to $4.4 trillion, representing 19 percent of all retirement assets.3 In an ongoing collaborative effort, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)4 and the Investment Company Institute (ICI)5 collect annual data on millions of 401(k) plan participants as a means to examine how these participants manage their 401(k) plan accounts. This report is an update of EBRI’s and ICI’s ongoing research into 401(k) plan participants’ activity through year-end 2015.6 The report is divided into four sections: the first describes the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database; the second presents a snapshot of participant account balances at year-end 2015; the third looks at participants’ asset allocations, including analysis of 401(k) participants’ use of target-date, or lifecycle, funds; and the fourth focuses on participants’ 401(k) loan activity. >> Download PDF