The Investment Company Institute (ICI) is a global association of regulated funds, including mutual funds, ETFs, closed-end funds, and unit investment trust (UITS) in the United States with similar funds offered to investors in jurisdictions worldwide. The company recently reported that most U.S. retirement savers did not stop making contributions to their plans throughout the Coronavirus Pandemic. Despite the financial and economic problems brought on by the pandemic, many Americans have not taken any withdrawals from their defined contribution (D.C.) retirement plans.
The ICI senior director of retirement and investor research, Sarah Holden, said: “Despite the economic challenges over the past year and half, retirement savers show deep commitment to preserving their retirement nest eggs.” “The combination of ongoing contributions and few participants taking withdrawals reflects D.C. plan participant’s long-term mindset and preference to keep this money earmarked for retirement and avoid dipping into it.” ICI’s study tracked the contributions, withdrawals, and other activity in 401(k) and other D.C. retirement plans of over 30 million participant accounts at the end of June 2021. A preliminary estimate from the record keeper data showed that only 1.1% of D.C. plan participants stopped contributing to their plans in the first half of 2021. This is compared to the 2.0% of D.C. plan participants in the first half of 2020 and 4.6% in the first half of 2009, during the great recession.