Data & ResearchSeptember 21, 2010

Average IRA Account Balance Put at $54K

The average IRA account balance in 2008 was $54,863, while the average IRA balance of all accounts from the same person combined totaled $69,498, according to new Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) data.

Reported by PLANADVISER Staff

Data from EBRI’s new IRA database also indicates that individuals with rollover assets had the highest average balance at $91,783 while Roth owners had the lowest average balance at $14,056.

EBRI said the average amount contributed to an IRA in the database was $3,665 in 2008, with the average contribution highest for accounts owned by those ages 65–69.

More contributions were made to Roth accounts than to traditional (combined traditional and rollover) accounts. However, the average contribution to a traditional account was higher, at $3,798, compared with $3,580 to a Roth account, according to the EBRI data.

Of those individuals contributing, 42.4% put in the maximum amount. Of those contributing to a traditional or rollover IRA, 43.4% maxed out, while 40.2% did so with a Roth IRA.

EBRI said the distribution of the IRA accounts is 33.6% traditional IRAs; 33.4% rollover IRAs, 23.4% Roth IRAs; while the remaining 9.6% are SEPs and SIMPLE accounts.

More information is at http://www.ebri.org/pdf/briefspdf/EBRI_IB_09-2010_No346_IRAs.pdf.