Many IRA Accounts Found to Be Unbalanced

About three in five IRA accounts are in what financial professionals call an “extreme” position by being overly weighted toward one type of investment, according to an Employee Benefit Research Institute study.

The study looked at IRAs to determine whether they have less than 10 percent or more than 90 percent in a particular investment category, including stocks, bonds or money market funds.

It found that 24 percent have less than 10 percent of their investments in stocks or stock funds, while 36 percent have more than 90 percent of their investments in those areas. Meanwhile, 19 percent had more than 90 percent in bonds and money market funds.

The overall allocation of those accounts was 52 percent stock, 10 percent balanced funds, 15 percent bonds, 13 percent money market funds and the rest in other assets.

It found little difference by gender but perhaps predictably older investors tended to have lower allocations to stocks. There also was a difference by type of IRA, with Roth-style investors tending to have more of their money in stocks.

FEDweek Newsletter
Veteran insight on your federal pay, benefits, career and retirement!
Share