IRAs hold trillions more than 401(k) plans — yet people hardly save in them
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- IRAs held $19.2 trillion at the end of 2025, nearly double the $10.1 trillion in 401(k) plans, according to the Investment Company Institute
- Direct IRA contributions totaled just $89 billion in 2023, while investors rolled over $682 billion — roughly 8x more — from workplace plans, per the most recent IRS data
- Baby boomers turning 65 at a rate of more than 11,000 Americans per day are the primary engine of rollover growth, with nearly 6 million people rolling money into IRAs in 2023 (up from ~4 million in the early 2000s)
- Cerulli Associates projects rollover flows will reach $941 billion in 2026 and roughly $1.3 trillion by 2031
- Traditional IRAs gained $5.2 trillion in total assets from 2020 to 2025, of which $3.8 trillion came from rollovers and only $119 billion from contributions, per Cerulli
- The Trump administration declined to defend a Biden-era investor protection rule in court that would have raised advice standards for insurance agents soliciting rollovers; the rule was ultimately struck down
- Prudential's David Blanchett warned that once investors move money from a 401(k) to an IRA they cannot move it back, and that 401(k) plans typically offer stronger fiduciary protections and more competitive pricing
Why it matters: With 4 million Americans turning 65 each year and $1.3 trillion in projected rollovers by 2031, the rollover decision now controls trillions in retirement security — yet the Trump administration's withdrawal of a Biden-era advisory rule leaves less federal oversight of the agents steering those one-way moves.
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