Among investors with limited investable funds, retirement accounts serve as a much-needed safety net for the future.

Spectrem’s newest study – Asset Allocation, Portfolios and Primary Providers – examines the retirement account details for Mass Affluent investors with a net worth between $100,000 and $1 million. A majority of those investors have retirement accounts, although their balances are limited by their wealth levels.

Thirty-eight percent of a Mass Affluent investor’s portfolio is comprised of investable assets, while 12 percent are invested in defined contribution assets such as retirement accounts. Sixty-nine percent of Mass Affluent investors have an employer-sponsored defined contribution plan such as a 401(k), 457 or 403(b) account.

Segmented by age, more than 90 percent of Mass Affluent investors under the age of 55 have an employer-sponsored defined contribution account, and among those in the age range of 45-54, their mean value in the account is $190,000. Older investors are less likely to have such accounts.

Forty-three percent of Mass Affluent investors have a rollover IRA, 42 percent have a Roth IRA and 40 percent have a contributory IRA. Among the four retirement account types, Mas Affluent investors have a mean value in their employer account of $160,000, a mean value of $129,000 in their rollover IRA, $83,000 in their contributory IRA and $51,000 in their Roth IRA.

A majority of Mass Affluent investors with a defined contribution account manage the account themselves. Thirty-four percent of investors with a Roth IRA use an advisor, and 28 percent of those with an employer-sponsored account use an advisor to manage the funds.

For Mass Affluent investors, after their principal residence (31 percent) and their defined contribution accounts (12) the next largest portion of their portfolio (11 percent) is in insurance and annuities. Of their investable assets, 37 percent are in equities, and 25 percent are in cash and liquid assets.

 

To learn more about Mass Affluent investors, click here