Account Balances for 401(k) Participants Rise 32%, EBRI Says

Savers who kept money in their 401(k) retirement plans saw average account balances rise 32 percent last year, said a study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and the Investment Company Institute.

Workers who have had money in their 401(k) savings accounts from 2003 and have been with the same plans had average account balances of $109,723 in 2009 compared with $83,161 a year earlier, according to the report released today by the Washington-based organizations. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose by about 23 percent in 2009 after falling 38 percent in 2008.