Question:
We’ve been reviewing our plan investment results, and they look pretty good in recent years. We are wondering how they compare to the results in other plans. Can you provide information about that?
Answer:
We can give you information gathered by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Since 2016, EBRI has tracked balances of participants in participant-directed plans and delivers the data monthly. (In fact, they tracked data before 2016, but changed some methodology in that year making direct comparison difficult). For participants with account balances at December
31, 2016, figures show a dramatic increase of 172% for the period January 1, 2017, through January 1, 2020, for participants aged 25–34 and 1–4 years of tenure with the current employer. The account balances reflect investment returns as well as contributions. Account balances for employees aged 35–44 with 5–9 years of tenure during the same period increased 88%, and those 45–54 years old with 10–19 years of tenure increased 60%. Click here to see the data for yourself.
