WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Total US retirement assets were $48.1 trillion as of September 30, 2025, up 4.5 percent from June. Retirement assets accounted for 34 percent of all household financial assets in the United States at the end of September 2025.
“The latest data show that retirement assets in the US are at a record high, underscoring the continued success of Americans’ long-term retirement savings and investing,” said Shelly Antoniewicz, Chief Economist. “Over the past 25 years, rising assets in IRAs and 401(k) plans reflect broader participation in these plans, even as markets fluctuate. 401(k) plans and IRAs have fueled the growth in retirement assets, helping to provide families with a secure financial future.”
US Total Retirement Market Assets
Trillions of dollars, end-of-period, selected periods
Assets in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) totaled $18.9 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2025, an increase of 5.2 percent from the end of the second quarter of 2025. Defined contribution (DC) plan assets were $13.9 trillion at the end of the third quarter, up 5.1 percent from June 30, 2025. Government defined benefit (DB) plans—including federal, state, and local government plans—held $9.5 trillion in assets as of the end of September 2025, a 3.1 percent increase from the end of June 2025. Private-sector DB plans held $3.1 trillion in assets at the end of the third quarter of 2025, and annuity reserves outside of retirement accounts accounted for another $2.6 trillion.
Defined Contribution Plans
Americans held $13.9 trillion in all employer-based DC retirement plans on September 30, 2025, of which $10.0 trillion was held in 401(k) plans. In addition to 401(k) plans, at the end of the third quarter, $875 billion was held in other private-sector DC plans, $1.5 trillion in 403(b) plans, $532 billion in 457 plans, and $1.1 trillion in the Federal Employees Retirement System’s Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). Mutual funds managed $5.8 trillion, or 58 percent, of assets held in 401(k) plans at the end of September 2025. With $3.4 trillion, equity funds were the most common type of funds held in 401(k) plans, followed by $1.6 trillion in hybrid funds, which include target date funds.
Individual Retirement Accounts
IRAs held $18.9 trillion in assets at the end of the third quarter of 2025. Thirty-eight percent of IRA assets, or $7.3 trillion, was invested in mutual funds. With $4.3 trillion, equity funds were the most common type of funds held in IRAs, followed by $1.2 trillion in hybrid funds.
Other Developments
Retirement entitlements include financial assets, other assets, and the unfunded liabilities of DB plans. Under a DB plan, employees accrue benefits to which they are legally entitled and which represent assets to US households and liabilities to plans. To the extent that pension plan assets are insufficient to cover accrued benefit entitlements, a DB pension plan has a claim on the plan sponsor.
As of September 30, 2025, total US retirement entitlements were $52.1 trillion, including $48.1 trillion of financial assets, $189 billion in other assets, and another $3.8 trillion of unfunded liabilities. Retirement entitlements accounted for 37 percent of the financial assets of all US households at the end of September.
Unfunded liabilities are a larger issue for government DB plans than for private-sector DB plans. As of the end of the third quarter of 2025, unfunded liabilities were 29 percent of benefit entitlements for state and local government DB plans, 25 percent of benefit entitlements for federal government DB plans, and 3 percent of benefit entitlements for private-sector DB plans.
The quarterly retirement data tables are available at “The US Retirement Market, Third Quarter 2025”.
Technical Notes
The Investment Company Institute’s total retirement market estimates reflect revisions to previously published estimates.
The latest estimates incorporate newly available data on 2023 flows and year-end 2023 assets for 401(k) plans, other private-sector DC plans, and private-sector DB plans from the US Department of Labor Form 5500 microdata. Beginning in the first quarter of 2023, incorporation of the newly available information resulted in upward revisions to previously published estimates of 401(k) plan, private-sector DB plan, and other private-sector DC plan assets.
Note: The outflows from domestic equity mutual funds for the third quarter were primarily driven by activity in collective investment trusts, rather than by redemptions from individual investors.
If you have any questions or would like to request additional comments on this or data on another topic, please contact ICI’s Media Relations team at media@ici.org.
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SOURCE Investment Company Institute
