No Rest for the Weary: Measuring the Changing Distribution of Retirement Wealth in the United States

Figures & data

Table 3. Share of each asset type in net wealth by wealth distribution in 1992 and 2016.

Type of asset/debt	2016				1992
	All households	Bottom 50%	Middle 40%	Top 10%	All households	Bottom 50%	Middle 40%	Top 10%
Primary Residence net of mortgage debt	14.8%	12.4%	18.5%	11.7%	14.9%	15.3%	17.5%	10.6%
Other Real Estate net of mortgage debt	9.6%	1.3%	5.7%	17.4%	8.6%	3.0%	6.3%	17.0%
Vehicles net of car loans	2.1%	3.6%	2.5%	1.1%	3.3%	3.8%	3.0%	3.2%
Social Security	30.2%	74.6%	32.5%	9.3%	33.3%	56.9%	33.2%	12.6%
Retirement Savings and Benefits (DC, DB, IRA)	26.3%	9.0%	30.4%	28.7%	24.8%	16.6%	28.1%	27.3%
Business (net)	8.9%	0.6%	3.1%	18.6%	5.4%	0.7%	1.9%	14.9%
Stocks	4.1%	0.3%	3.8%	6.1%	4.1%	1.3%	3.7%	7.2%
Bonds	0.8%	0.0%	0.1%	1.9%	0.8%	0.1%	0.3%	2.0%
Checking/Savings Accounts	2.3%	1.3%	2.7%	2.2%	2.8%	2.4%	3.5%	2.2%
CDs, Savings Bonds, T-Bills, and Other Savings	2.0%	0.4%	1.6%	3.1%	2.7%	1.6%	2.9%	3.3%
Total Assets	101.1%	103.6%	101.0%	100.1%	100.7%	101.7%	100.5%	100.1%
Non-Real Estate Debt	−1.1%	−3.6%	−1.0%	−0.1%	−0.7%	−1.7%	−0.5%	−0.1%
Net Wealth	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Note: See Table 1. Shares are calculated based on each asset type’s average amount by wealth group.

Source: Authors calculations using 1992 and 2016 HRS data and 2020 RAND-HRS longitudinal data.

Table 1. Change in median wealth from 1992 to 2016, by wealth distribution.

Type of asset/debt	Wealth group
	All Households	Bottom 50%	Middle 40%	Top 10%
Primary Residence net of mortgage debt	−31,200	−61,900	−9,600	121,000
Other Real Estate net of mortgage debt	0	0	0	0
Vehicles net of car loans	−7,200	−8,800	−5,600	−7,400
Social Security	−31,600	−57,000	−3,300	9,400
Retirement Savings and Benefits (DC, DB, IRA)	−54,800	−42,200	−1,700	198,000
Business (net)	0	0	0	0
Stocks	0	0	0	−51,600
Bonds	0	0	0	0
Checking/Savings Accounts	−6,600	−5,000	−5,800	14,200
CDs, Savings Bonds, T-Bills, and Other Savings	0	0	−900	−17,200
Total Assets	−143,700	−161,200	400	863,800
Non-Real Estate Debt	0	100	0	0
Net Wealth	−146,600	−164,600	−1,800	881,000

Notes: All amounts are calculated in 2016 USD. Cutoffs points for wealth groups are defined based on their net wealth and marital status. For single households the cutoffs are $361,00 (50th pct.) and $1,031,100 (90th pct.) in 1992 and $233,700 (50th pct.) and $943,500 (90th pct.) in 2016. For couples, the cutoffs are $678,100 (50th pct.) and $1,465,500 (90th pct) in 1992, and $559,100 (50th pct.) and $2,004,800 (90th pct) in 2016. Stock and bond categories represent direct ownership (i.e., outside of 401(k)-type plans and IRAs). Household sampling weights.

Source: Authors calculations using 1992 and 2016 HRS data and 2020 RAND-HRS longitudinal data.

Table 2. Median wealth by wealth category and distribution in 1992 and 2016.

Type of asset/debt	2016				1992
	All households	Bottom 50%	Middle 40%	Top 10%	All households	Bottom 50%	Middle 40%	Top 10%
Primary Residence net of mortgage debt	60,000	0	128,000	305,000	91,200	61,900	137,10600	184,000
Other Real Estate net of mortgage debt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Vehicles net of car loans	10,000	5,000	15,000	27,000	17,200	13,800	20,600	34,400
Social Security	237,100	188,300	300,500	311,800	268,700	245,300	303,800	302,400
Retirement Savings and Benefits (DC, DB, IRA)	39,000	0	200,000	764,700	93,800	42,200	201,700	566,700
Business (net)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stocks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	51,600
Bonds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Checking/Savings Accounts	2,000	200	8,000	40,000	8,600	5,200	13,800	25,800
CDs, Savings Bonds, T-Bills, and Other Savings	0	0	0	0	0	0	900	17,200
Total Assets	489,500	273,900	871,800	2,690,400	633,200	435,100	871,400	1,826,600
Non-Real Estate Debt	0	200	0	0	0	100	0	0
Net Wealth	483,300	265,700	865,400	2,690,400	629,900	430,300	867,200	1,809,400

Note: See Table 1.

Source: Authors calculations using 1992 and 2016 HRS data and 2020 RAND-HRS longitudinal data.

Table 4. Median wealth by wealth category and race and ethnicity in 1992 and 2016.

Type of asset/debt	2016				1992
	White non-Hispanic	Black non-Hispanic	Hispanic	Other	White non-Hispanic	Black non-Hispanic	Hispanic	Other
Primary Residence net of mortgage debt	70,000	0	0	80,000	94,600	34,400	41,300	63,600
Other Real Estate net of mortgage debt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5,200
Vehicles net of car loans	12,000	5,000	4,000	10,000	17,200	8,600	5,200	12,000
Social Security	253,900	211,200	204,600	237,800	253,700	176,100	160,500	213,100
Retirement Savings and Benefits (DC, DB, IRA)	60,000	5,000	0	55,000	101,100	74,200	55,000	34,400
Business (net)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stocks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bonds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Checking/Savings Accounts	3,000	0	0	3,500	8,600	1,700	300	8,600
CDs, Savings Bonds, T-Bills, and Other Savings	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total Assets	559,500	333,900	342,900	733,700	703,500	473,000	418,300	533,700
Non-Real Estate Debt	0	0	0	0	0	700	0	0
Net Wealth	558,700	326,400	339,700	731,400	701,700	467,400	414,900	526,800

Note: See Table 1. Race and ethnicity are determined on individual bases before applying household sampling weights.

Source: Authors calculations using 1992 and 2016 HRS data and 2020 RAND-HRS longitudinal data.

Table 5. Change in median wealth from 1992 to 2016 by race and ethnicity.

Type of asset/debt	Race & ethnicity
	White non-Hispanic	Black non-Hispanic	Hispanic	Other
Primary Residence net of mortgage debt	−24,600	−34,400	−41,300	16,400
Other Real Estate net of mortgage debt	0	0	0	−5,200
Vehicles net of car loans	−5,200	−3,600	−1,200	−2,000
Social Security	200	35,100	44,100	24,700
Retirement Savings and Benefits (DC, DB, IRA)	−41,100	−69,200	−55,000	20,600
Business (net)	0	0	0	0
Stocks	0	0	0	0
Bonds	0	0	0	0
Checking/Savings Accounts	−5,600	−1,700	−300	−5,100
CDs, Savings Bonds, T-Bills, and Other Savings	0	0	0	0
Total Assets	−144,000	−139,100	−75,400	200,000
Non-Real Estate Debt	0	−700	0	0
Net Wealth	−143,000	−141,000	−75,200	204,600

Note: see Tables 1 and 4.

Source: Authors calculations using 1992 and 2016 HRS data and 2020 RAND-HRS longitudinal data.

Table 6. Share of each asset type in net wealth by race and ethnicity in 1992 and 2016.

Type of asset/debt	2016				1992
	White non-Hispanic	Black non-Hispanic	Hispanic	Other	White non-Hispanic	Black non-Hispanic	Hispanic	Other
Primary Residence net of mortgage debt	14.6%	13.3%	12.1%	17.4%	14.3%	10.9%	15.8%	13.1%
Other Real Estate net of mortgage debt	8.0%	8.0%	17.2%	11.4%	10.8%	4.4%	4.5%	35.9%
Vehicles net of car loans	2.1%	2.2%	2.3%	1.9%	3.1%	2.7%	2.9%	1.7%
Social Security	28.6%	44.6%	38.4%	28.2%	28.5%	41.4%	40.7%	25.2%
Retirement Savings and Benefits (DC, DB, IRA)	27.8%	23.2%	14.7%	27.6%	24.3%	36.4%	28.0%	14.3%
Business (net)	9.0%	6.4%	13.1%	5.8%	7.9%	1.4%	5.8%	1.6%
Stocks	4.9%	1.3%	1.1%	4.3%	4.7%	0.5%	1.0%	2.2%
Bonds	1.2%	0.0%	0.0%	0.3%	1.1%	0.0%	0.0%	0.5%
Checking/Savings Accounts	2.4%	1.6%	1.3%	2.7%	2.8%	2.3%	1.4%	2.0%
CDs, Savings Bonds, T-Bills, and Other Savings	2.5%	1.1%	0.8%	1.6%	3.3%	1.6%	1.3%	3.8%
Total Assets	101.1%	101.6%	101.2%	101.1%	100.7%	101.5%	101.4%	100.4%
Non-Real Estate Debt	1.1%	1.6%	1.2%	1.1%	0.7%	1.5%	1.4%	0.4%
Net Wealth	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

Note: See Tables 1 and 4. Shares are calculated based on each asset type’s average amount by wealth group.

Source: Authors calculations using 1992 and 2016 HRS data and 2020 RAND-HRS longitudinal data.

Table A1. Mean wealth and change in mean wealth by wealth category and wealth distribution in 1992 and 2016 (thousands of 2016 USD).

Type of asset/debt	2016				1992				Change
	All	Bot. 50%	Next 40%	Top 10%	All	Bot. 50%	Next 40%	Top 10%	All	Bot. 50%	Next 40%	Top 10%
Primary Residence net of mortgage debt	124	34	171	395	120	65	156	255	4	−31	14	140
Other Real Estate net of mortgage debt	81	4	53	589	70	13	56	411	12	−9	−3	178
Vehicles net of car loans	18	10	23	38	27	16	27	77	−9	−6	−4	−39
Social Security	254	205	301	316	269	239	296	305	−15	−35	4	11
Retirement Savings and Benefits (DC, DB, IRA)	221	25	281	973	201	70	251	661	20	−45	30	312
Business (net)	75	2	29	631	44	3	17	360	31	−1	12	270
Stocks	35	1	35	207	33	5	33	174	2	−5	2	33
Bonds	7	0	1	65	6	0	3	49	1	−0	−1	16
Checking/Savings Accounts	19	4	25	75	23	10	31	52	−4	−7	−6	23
CDs, Savings Bonds, T-Bills, and Other Savings	17	1	15	106	22	7	26	79	−5	−6	−11	27
Total Assets	851	284	933	3,393	813	428	897	2,423	38	−144	36	971
Non-Real Estate Debt	9	10	10	5	6	7	4	3	4	3	5	2
Net Wealth	842	274	924	3,388	807	421	893	2,420	34	−147	30	969

Note: See Table 1.

Source: Authors calculations using 1992 and 2016 HRS data and 2020 RAND-HRS longitudinal data.

Table A2. Median wealth by wealth category and wealth distribution in 1992 and 2022 (2022 USD) — SCF data.

Type of asset/debt	2022				1992
	All	Bot. 50%	Next 40%	Top 10%	All	Bot. 50%	Next 40%	Top 10%
Primary Residence Net of Mortgage Debt	156,000	56,000	315,000	710,000	181,900	65,000	368,100	649,600
Other Real Estate Net of Mortgage Debt	0	0	0	87,500	0	0	0	530,500
Vehicles Net of Car Loans	20,000	12,000	30,300	42,500	21,700	11,700	32,900	69,300
Retirement Savings (DC & IRA)	16,000	0	154,100	800,000	13,000	0	86,600	238,200
Business (Net)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	119,100
Stocks	0	0	0	22,000	0	0	0	43,300
Bonds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Checking/Savings Accounts	7,200	2,000	25,800	135,000	10,400	2,600	22,500	133,800
CDs, Savings Bonds, T-Bills, And Other Savings	0	0	9,000	417,000	13,000	0	60,600	545,600
Total Assets	385,600	90,200	891,200	6,235,700	503,400	154,600	913,900	5,547,300
Non-Real Estate Debt	400	1,500	0	0	0	0	0	0
Net Wealth	364,300	81,900	889,500	6,235,700	492,800	148,500	913,900	5,454,600

Notes: All amounts are calculated in 2022 USD. Cutoffs points for wealth groups are defined based on their net wealth and marital status. For single households the cutoffs are $200,931.33 (50th pct.) and $1,152,756.85 (90th pct.) in 1992 and $111,800 (50th pct.) and $1,260,000 (90th pct.) in 2022. For couples, the cutoffs are $688,107.63 (50th pct.) and $3,580,604.72 (90th pct) in 1992, and $546,800 (50th pct.) and $4,512,000 (90th pct) in 2022. Stock and bond categories represent direct ownership (i.e., outside of 401(k)-type plans and IRAs). Household sampling weights.

Source: Authors calculations using 1992 and 2022 SCF data.

Table A3. Mean wealth by wealth category and wealth distribution in 1992 and 2022 (2022 USD) — SCF data.

Type of asset/debt	2022				1992
	All	Bot. 50%	Next 40%	Top 10%	All	Bot. 50%	Next 40%	Top 10%
Primary Residence Net of Mortgage Debt	302,500	90,400	376,000	1,071,200	322,500	101,100	424,800	1,034,400
Other Real Estate Net of Mortgage Debt	125,400	7,100	88,000	868,000	211,800	16,200	116,100	1,581,000
Vehicles Net of Car Loans	5,000	18,600	41,600	90,900	37,600	20,000	41,000	113,100
Retirement Savings (DC & IRA)	306,400	24,300	388,200	1,393,000	163,100	23,600	180,100	800,300
Business (Net)	369,600	3,900	82,100	3,355,300	328,800	14,900	122,100	2,738,000
Stocks	109,300	500	39,200	935,000	97,000	2,700	39,000	804,500
Bonds	12,000	0	1,300	114,700	43,300	600	15,200	371,000
Checking/Savings Accounts	71,300	9,800	58,800	429,100	81,100	16,300	64,900	473,300
CDs, Savings Bonds, T-Bills, And Other Savings	250,900	5,200	108,500	2,053,900	199,000	22,300	162,200	1,238,800
Total Assets	1,582,300	159,800	1,183,700	10,300,000	1,484,300	217,800	1,165,500	9,154,300
Non-Real Estate Debt	18,200	15,800	13,500	48,900	14,600	9,600	8,300	64,800
Net Wealth	1,564,100	144,000	1,170,200	10,300,000	1,469,700	208,200	1,157,200	9,089,500

Note: see Appendix Table A2.

Source: Authors calculations using 1992 and 2022 SCF data.