Jack Towarnicky, the Plan Sponsor Council of America’s Executive Director, asserted that “the state of the retirement savings industry remains strong” at an April 30 session at the PSCA's 2019 annual conference in Tampa.
Towarnicky presented statistics showing that the number of plans, participants and assets grew exponentially in the 41 years from 1975 to 2016. There were more than three times as many plans in 2016 as in 1975, nine times as many plan participants, and 100 times as much in retirement plan assets, he said.
Tax-Qualified, Employer-Sponsored Defined Contribution Plans
|
Measure |
1975 |
2016 |
|
Number of Plans |
207,748 |
656,241 |
|
Number of Participants |
11,507,000 |
100,152,000 |
|
Assets |
$74 billion |
$7.7 trillion |
And there is growth by other measures as well, Towarnicky reported. For instance, in 1982, no employers had automatic features in their retirement plans; in 2018, 36 years later, 61% of the employers that the PSCA surveyed had them. And even more – 70% – reported that they now offer a Roth option in their plans.
More employers are expanding employees’ access to retirement plans, Towarnicky also noted. The number of employers that make employees eligible to participate in their retirement plans immediately upon hire has increased by 50% in 20 years, to 60%, he said, and a growing number of employers allow 100% vesting within three years of hire.
Continued improvements “are all but sure to follow,” Towarnicky said.
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