Stats › Active, passive and flows › Retirement assets
Government pensions hold $10.0tn, private ones $3.0tn
IRAs are the largest single pool. Private sector defined benefit pensions, once the dominant form of US retirement provision, hold less than a sixth of what IRAs do. Source: Investment Company Institute, Q1 2026.
US retirement money arrives automatically from pay, defaults into a fund and buys shares on a schedule. The system holds $47.6 trillion, with $10.0 trillion in government pensions against $3.0 trillion in private sector ones. Outside government, the investment risk sits with the individual.
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