I had never heard the term "orphaned 401(k) accounts" until I came across the survey, Competing in the Retirement-Dominated Future, which I referenced last month in my post, Banks Lag Far Behind in Race for Boomers’ Retirement Dollars. The survey used the term in referring to those 401(k) accounts still held in plans of previous employers.
The numbers are huge. According to the survey research, more than a third of mass affluent households have at least one orphaned 401(k) account with an average balance of over $100,000. Total amount of assets in orphaned 401(k) accounts: in excess of $1 trillion.
Does this put LaRue into perspective?
Note: The survey, Competing in the Retirement-Dominated Future, was conducted by BIA Research, a professional organization focused on enhancing employee and organizational performance, and Mercatus LLC, a financial services with strategy and investment firm. They surveyed 2,997 "mass affluent individuals"– those with investable assets between $50,000 and $2 million who are between 35 and 70 years old – to better understand how they prepare for retirement and to provide banks with insights to reestablish their footing in the retirement marketplace.
