In some cases, plan rules worked against workers in requiring minimum withdrawals that were higher than they needed. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Although as of 2017, retirement plans and IRAs in the U.S. held nearly $17 trillion, a new Government Accounting Office report finds that in 2013, workers across several generations, aged 25 to 55, removed money from their retirement savings. How much? The GAO said “at least $69 billion (+/- $3.5 billion).”
Obviously, that's not good news for the retirement picture in the U.S. As a result, GAO was asked to research the number and amount of early withdrawals, and find out why people might be draining their retirement savings prior to retirement, as well as find ways to discourage them from doing so.
Recommended For You
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Marlene Satter
Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.
