Data & Research April 1, 2011

NAGDCA Offers Statistical Snapshot of Government Plans

An average 22% of eligible participants participated in state and local government plans during 2010, down from 29% a year before, according to a report.

Reported by

Fred Schneyer

The National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) published its analysis of 401(k), 401(a) and 457 programs. The data show that at the end of 2010, 457 plans had 4.9 million eligible employees and 1.1 million of them actively made deferrals; a participation rate of 22%. The 401(k) respondents had 2.7 million eligible employees and of those, 512,998 employees actively made deferrals; a participation rate of 19%. And 401(a) respondents had 885,817 eligible employees and of those, 218,047 actively made deferrals; a participation rate of 25%.

NAGDCA also found that as of December 31, 2010, the average participant account balance for the responding state and local government plans was $41,243, with a median of $23,497. The average participant account balance for responding 457 plans was $42,468 and the average for 401(k) plans was $39,285. The average for 401(a) plans was $38,301, and the average participant account balance for responding 403(b) plans was $40,889.

The average annual deferral for the responding state and local government plans was $3,884.

As of December 31, 2010, 33% of all responding government plans had assets valued between $101 and $499 million and 25% were valued between $1 and $5 billion. Eighteen percent of plans assets were valued between $500 and $999 million and 18% had $100 million or less in plan assets. Six percent of responding plans had assets valued over $5 billion.

The 2011 NAGDCA Defined Contribution Plan survey covered 111 government defined contribution plans, including: 457 – 76 plans (43 state, 32 local, 1 education); 401(k) – 16 plans (11 state, 5 local); 401(a) – 17 plans (9 state, 5 local, 2 education, independent agency);403(b) – 2 plans (2 state). These plans had approximately 1.8 million active participants in 2010 compared to 1.5 million in 2009.

Ninety-two percent of these plans also offer a defined benefit plan, 90% offer retiree health insurance benefits, and 84% of plans reported their employer participates in Social Security.

The complete survey results are available here.