Rollovers have played a key role in the recent growth in individual retirement accounts in U.S. households, according to a recently published study by the Investment Company Institute, “The Role of IRAs in U.S. Households’ Saving for Retirement, 2025.” The ICI, speaking with 3,214 households from May through June 2025, learned that 44% of respondents owned IRAs, including 33% who owned traditional IRAs. Of the latter group, 61% held rollover assets in their traditional IRAs.
Nearly all (86%) traditional IRA owners with rollover assets said their most recent rollover transferred their entire retirement plan account balance, according to the report. The average traditional IRA balance in ICI’s study consisted of 80% rollovers or transfers from former employer-sponsored retirement plans.
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When surveyed IRA owners were asked why they had combined retirement assets, the five most popular reasons were intentional consolidation (cited by 63%), not wanting to leave assets with a former employer (62%), preserving tax treatment of the savings (58%), wanting more investment options (56%), and keeping assets with the same financial services provider (50%).
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of traditional IRA owners who made rollovers said they had consulted beforehand with a professional financial adviser, compared with financial services firms (45%), employers (35%), spouses (35%), IRS rules and publications (27%), and coworkers, friends or family (18%).
“IRAs are the largest and fastest-growing component of the U.S. retirement market,” said Shelly Antoniewicz, the ICI’s chief economist, in a statement. “Perhaps their more important function is portability—allowing workers to take their employer plan benefits with them when they change jobs or retire.”
Among responding IRA owners who had not contributed to their accounts in 2024, more than 40% said they were unable to save, 24% said they lacked extra money, and 18% said they met savings needs through a workplace retirement plan.
Only one-third of surveyed IRA owners had taken withdrawals in tax year 2024, including 29% who were retired. Of those who took withdrawals, 37% used the money for living expenses, 44% reinvested or partially saved it in another account, and 15% made home purchases or repairs.
Previous ICI research found that IRAs had $19.2 trillion in assets as of year-end 2025.
Overall, most ICI survey respondents had some sort of retirement savings. Nearly three-quarters of respondents possessed tax-advantaged retirement savings, and 86% of near-retiree households reported having retirement savings.
