Data & Research October 21, 2010
DC Plan Loan and Withdrawal Activity Edged Higher in 2010
A report from the Investment Company Institute shows that in the
first half of 2010, defined contribution plan participants’ loan and withdrawal activity
rose slightly compared with the same time period a year earlier.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
The research looked at nearly 24 million defined contribution retirement accounts Nevertheless, participants’ commitment to 401(k) and similar plans continued, as evidenced by stronger contribution activity and lower levels of participant-initiated changes in asset allocations, ICI said in a press release.
The data showed that as of June 2010, 17.5% of DC plan participants had loans outstanding, compared with 16.5% with loans outstanding at year-end 2009. Only 2.1% of DC plan participants took withdrawals in the first half of 2010, compared with 1.8% in the first half of 2009. The share of workers taking hardship withdrawals was only 0.9%, the same as in the first half of 2009.
Only 1.5% of DC plan participants stopped contributing in the first half of 2010, compared with 4.6% in the same time frame in 2009. Only 6.6% of DC plan participants changed the asset allocation of their account balances; 6.3% changed the asset allocation of their contributions.