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In the first three quarters of 2019, just a few more participants in defined contribution plans took money from their plans than they did in the first three quarters of 2018.
So says a report from the Investment Company Institute, which pointed out that it wasn't a large change from the prior year—3.3 percent of participants took withdrawals, compared with 2.9 percent in 2018—and that hardship withdrawals actually fell just a fraction, with 1.6 percent of DC plan participants taking a hardship withdrawal compared with 1.4 percent during the same period.
Contribution rates also remained high. While 2.2 percent of participants stopped contributions during the first three quarters of 2018, in 2019 just 1.9 percent halted their contributions during the same period.
When it comes to asset allocation, most participants stuck with what they had during increases in the stock market when it came to balances. There was a little less reallocation going on as the market boomed, with just 7.1 percent of DC plan participants changing their account balance asset allocations during the first three quarters of 2019. In 2018, 8.4 percent did so during the same period.
For contribution asset allocations, 4.2 percent made changes during the first three quarters of 2019, while in 2018 slightly more did so, at 4.4 percent.
The needle barely moved on loans, with the first three quarters of 2019 seeing 16.3 percent of participants having outstanding loans, while for the same period in 2018 the number was 16.4 percent.
DC plan assets, the report says, represent some 28 percent of U.S. retirement assets overall, and as of the end of the third quarter of 2019 close to a tenth of U.S. households' aggregate financial assets.
ICI points out that during 2019's first three quarters, stock prices overall were up, and on net, the S&P 500 total return index gained 20.6 percent during the period.
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Marlene Satter
Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.
