They say that what goes up must come down, and in June that applied to 401(k) balances.
Not all balances, of course, and not by a uniform amount. The average account balance for younger (25-34), less tenured (1-4 years) workers was basically flat — with market losses negating the positive impact of contributions made during the month.
Older (55-64) workers with more seniority (20-29 years of tenure) lost ground — with the average balance slipping 1.5%, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). That was a bit of a turnaround from May, when the average balance of younger, less tenured 401(k) savers was up 2.8%, while the average balance of the older group experienced a 1% increase. April also saw increases in the average account balances, albeit much smaller ones.
Those estimates were based on the actual contribution records and investment choices of several million consistent participants in the EBRI/ICI database.
Older, higher tenured participants tend to have larger account balances, and the movement in average balance tends to be more influenced by market moves than contribution flows.
Drawing from that database, which includes demographic, contribution, asset allocation, and loan and withdrawal activity information for millions of participants, EBRI has produced estimates of the cumulative changes in average account balances — both as a result of contributions and investment returns — for several combinations of participant age and tenure.
You can access reports of both cumulative and monthly average account changes here.
