ICI: US Retirement Assets Soar to $51.2 Trillion

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Total US retirement assets were $51.2 trillion as of June 30, 2026, up 7.9% from March. Retirement assets accounted for 33% of all household financial assets in the United States at the end of June 2026.

Assets in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) totaled $19.9 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 9.2% from the end of the first quarter of 2026. Defined contribution (DC) plan assets were $15.0 trillion at the end of the second quarter, up 8.7% from March 31, 2026. Government defined benefit (DB) plans—including federal, state, and local government plans—held $10.4 trillion in assets as of the end of June 2026, a 5.1% increase from the end of March 2026. Private-sector DB plans held $3.2 trillion in assets at the end of the second quarter of 2026, and annuity reserves outside of retirement accounts accounted for another $2.7 trillion.

Defined Contribution Plans

Americans held $15.0 trillion in all employer-based DC retirement plans on June 30, 2026, of which $10.8 trillion was held in 401(k) plans. In addition to 401(k) plans, at the end of the second quarter, $920 billion was held in other private-sector DC plans, $1.6 trillion in 403(b) plans, $585 billion in 457 plans, and $1.2 trillion in the Federal Employees Retirement System's Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). Mutual funds managed $6.2 trillion, or 58%, of assets held in 401(k) plans at the end of June 2026. With $3.7 trillion, equity funds were the most common type of funds held in 401(k) plans, followed by $1.7 trillion in hybrid funds, which include target date funds.

Individual Retirement Accounts

IRAs held $19.9 trillion in assets at the end of the second quarter of 2026. Forty-one percent of IRA assets, or $8.0 trillion, was invested in mutual funds. With $4.8 trillion, equity funds were the most common type of funds held in IRAs, followed by $1.3 trillion in hybrid funds.

Other Developments

Mutual funds play a key role in US households' individual account-based retirement savings but are less important for traditional DB plans. Mutual funds represent $15.9 trillion, or 46%, of the assets held in IRAs and DC plans in June 2026. Mutual funds are also held through variable annuities (VAs), which have similar tax advantages and restrictions as retirement plans and are counted as part of Americans' nest egg for retirement. In June 2026, VA mutual fund assets outside retirement plans amounted to $1.5 trillion.

The quarterly retirement data tables are available at "The US Retirement Market, Second Quarter 2026."

If you have any questions or would like to request additional comments on this or data on another topic, please contact ICI's Media Relations team at [email protected].

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SOURCE Investment Company Institute