
The Year in Hardship Withdrawals and Leakage
IRS Expands Coronavirus Loan, Distribution Relief
The Internal Revenue Service is expanding the categories of individuals eligible for special loans and distributions and providing updated guidance on the tax treatment of these distributions and loans.
Hardship Withdrawals Spiked, Loans Dipped After Bipartisan Budget Act
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 made it easier for retirement plan participants to access hardship withdrawals without taking loans first; since passage of the law, hardships withdrawals are up 40% in Fidelity’s book of business.
Average Deferral Rates Reach 10-Year High of 8.6%
And the use of 401(k) loans fell to a nine-year low of 22.5% in 2018, according to T. Rowe Price’s annual participant data benchmarking report.
Participants Remained Committed to Their DC Plans During 2018
In the first three quarters of 2018, only 2.2% of participant stopped contributing to their plans, ICI data shows.
More Efforts Needed to Increase Retirement Plan Participant Savings Rates
While automatic enrollment gets participants into plans, a sizable segment are starting their average contributions at a minimum 3.3% rate and failing to take any additional action to increase that, according to J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
DC Plan Investors Stayed the Course in the First Nine Months of 2017
Only 2.4% discontinued contributions, a mere 2.8% took withdrawals and just 1.3% took hardship withdrawals, ICI data show
401(k) Participants’ Equity Holdings Drop As They Age
The younger the investor, the more likely they are to have their money invested in equities, while older investors are more likely to gravitate to fixed-income securities, according to the ICI.
Loans, Suspended Deferrals Reduce Savings an Average of 14%
The impact is greater for younger investors, as they have a long time horizon for saving, MassMutual finds.