EBRI issue brief最新文献

Amidst growing concerns about workers outliving their retirement savings, a key question-both as a matter of national retirement policy and understanding the potential role of plan design and education in influencing individual decision-making-is how many retiring workers actually choose to annuitize (to take a stream of lifetime income) vs. opting for a lump-sum payment. The key finding of this study is that differences in defined benefit (DB) plan rules or features result in very different annuitization rates in DB plans. In fact, the results show that the rate of annuitization varies directly with the degree to which plan rules restrict the ability to choose a partial or lump-sum distribution. This study shows that annuitization rates vary significantly across these different plan types, which makes any attempt to combine the annuitization rates across these different plan types uninformative. Combining all the plans across the years 2005-2010, workers who made their payout decision between ages 50 and 75 had a minimum job tenure of five years, a minimum account balance of $5,000, and had an annuitization rate of 65.8 percent. But within this group of workers, those who had no plan restrictions on a lump-sum distribution had an annuitization rate of only 27.3 percent. In all the years studied, plans with no lump-sum distribution (LSD) options have the highest annuitization rates, very close to 100 percent. Traditional defined benefit and cash balance plans with no restrictionson LSDs had the lowest annuitization rates. In 2010, the annuitization rate for all plans combined was 65.5 percent, while for plans with no LSD option it was 98.8 percent, but the annuitization rate for defined benefit plans with no restrictions on LSDs was 44.3 percent, while for cash balance plans with no restrictions on LSDs it was 22.3 percent. For older workers across most plan types, annuitization rates increase steadily with account balance, but this is not the case for younger workers. Annuitization rates also increase with tenure, but for younger workers (20-50) with low tenure (less than 10 years), annuitization rates are very low. For older workers (50-75), annuitization rates are higher even in cases of low tenure. Annuitization rates are very low for those below age 40, but from that point onwards, annuitization rates increase for all types of plans. Annuitization rates appear to peak between 65 and 69, but then fall sharply.

The 2012 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey finds continued slow growth in consumer-driven health plans: 10 percent of the population was enrolled in a CDHP, up from 7 percent in 2011. Enrollment in HDHPs remained at 16 percent. Overall, 18.6 million adults ages 21-64 with private insurance, representing 15.4 percent of that market, were either in a CDHP or were in an HDHP that was eligible for an HSA. When their children were counted, about 25 million individuals with private insurance, representing about 14.6 percent of the market, were either in a CDHP or an HSA-eligible plan. This study finds evidence that adults in a CDHP and those in an HDHP were more likely than those in a traditional plan to exhibit a number of cost-conscious behaviors. While CDHP enrollees, HDHP enrollees, and traditional-plan enrollees were about equally likely to report that they made use of quality information provided by their health plan, CDHP enrollees were more likely to use cost information and to try to find information about their doctors' costs and quality from sources other than the health plan. CDHP enrollees were more likely than traditional-plan enrollees to take advantage of various wellness programs, such as health-risk assessments, health-promotion programs, and biometric screenings. In addition, financial incentives mattered more to CDHP enrollees than to traditional-plan enrollees. It is clear that the underlying characteristics of the populations enrolled in these plans are different: Adults in a CDHP were significantly more likely to report being in excellent or very good health. Adults in a CDHP and those in a HDHP were significantly less likely to smoke than were adults in a traditional plan, and they were significantly more likely to exercise. CDHP and HDHP enrollees were also more likely than traditional-plan enrollees to be highly educated. As the CDHP and HDHP markets continue to expand and more enrollees are enrolled for longer periods of time, the sustained impact that these plans are having on cost, quality, and access to health care services can be better understood. The eight years of consumer engagement surveys reported here provide unique data from which to measure future changes in this evolving type of health insurance. A significant portion of the population reported using a smartphone or a tablet. Among them, as many as one-third reported using an application (app) for health-related purposes. Among those not using an app, about one-half were very interested in using one.

THE BULK OF 401(K) ASSETS CONTINUED TO BE INVESTED IN STOCKS: On average, at year-end 2011, 61 percent of 401(k) participants' assets was invested in equity securities through equity funds, the equity portion of balanced funds, and company stock. Thirty-four percent was in fixed-income securities such as stable-value investments and bond and money funds. SEVENTY-TWO PERCENT OF 401(K) PLANS INCLUDED TARGET-DATE FUNDS IN THEIR INVESTMENT LINEUP AT YEAR-END 2011: At year-end 2011, 13 percent of the assets in the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database was invested in target-date funds and 39 percent of 401(k) participants held target-date funds. Also known as lifecycle funds, these funds are designed to offer a diversified portfolio that automatically rebalances to be more focused on income over time. MORE NEW OR RECENT HIRES INVESTED THEIR 401(K) ASSETS IN BALANCED FUNDS, INCLUDING TARGET-DATE FUNDS: For example, at year-end 2011, 51 percent of the account balances of recently hired participants in their 20s was invested in balanced funds, compared with 44 percent in 2010, and about 7 percent in 1998. A significant subset of that balanced fund category is target-date funds. At year-end 2011, 40 percent of the account balances of recently hired participants in their 20s was invested in target-date funds, compared with 35 percent at year-end 2010. 401(K) PARTICIPANTS CONTINUED TO SEEK DIVERSIFICATION OF THEIR INVESTMENTS: The share of 401(k) accounts invested in company stock remained at 8 percent in 2011. This share has fallen by more than half since 1999. Recently hired 401(k) participants contributed to this trend: They tended to be less likely to hold employer stock. PARTICIPANTS' 401(K) LOAN ACTIVITY REMAINED STEADY, ALTHOUGH LOAN BALANCES INCREASED SLIGHTLY IN 2011: At year-end 2011, 21 percent of all 401(k) participants who were eligible for loans had loans outstanding against their 401(k) accounts, unchanged from year-end 2009 and year-end 2010, and up from 18 percent at year-end 2008. Loans outstanding amounted to 14 percent of the remaining account balance, on average, at year-end 2011, unchanged from year-end 2010. Loan amounts outstanding increased slightly from those at year-end 2010. THE YEAR-END 2011 AVERAGE ACCOUNT BALANCE IN THE DATABASE WAS 2.2 PERCENT LOWER THAN THE YEAR BEFORE, BUT MAY NOT ACCURATELY REFLECT THE EXPERIENCE OF TYPICAL 401(K) PARTICIPANTS IN 2011: To understand changes in 401(k) participants' average account balances, it is important to analyze a sample of consistent participants. As with previous EBRI/ICI updates, analysis of a sample of consistent 401(k) participants (those that have been in the same plan since 2003) is expected to be published in 2013.