Americans have remain relatively committed to 401(k) and other defined contribution plans through the financial crisis, with only a slight increase in those cutting off their contributions, according to a new study.
The data from the Investment Company Institute showed that, with a few exceptions, Americans were remaining as diligent as before the crisis in using the plans to save for retirement.
The study did find a slight uptick in the number of plan participants who ended their contributions. About 4.6% of participants stopped making contributions the first six months of this year, which is a slight increase from 3.7% in 2008.
As of June, 16.3% of 401(k) participants had loans outstanding on their defined contribution accounts, according to the study. Although a slight increase from 16.0% in 2008, the ICI said the number is in line with historical standards.
In other measures, however, Americans seemed not to waver in their commitment to their defined contribution plans. In the first half of the year, for example, only 1.8% of participants took withdrawals from their retirement plans, with 0.9% taking hardship withdrawals, according to the study. The numbers were 3.95 and 1.3% respectively in 2008.
The study found that 7.7% of participants changed the asset allocation of their account balance in the first half of the year, while 9.3% changed the allocation for their contributions.
The study looked at data from 22 million defined contribution plan participants.