“The data show that 401(k) plan investors in their 20s—whether the millennials of 2015 or the Generation Xers of 1996—have invested a large portion of their accounts in equities, but the composition of these equity investments has changed,” Sarah Holden, ICI’s senior director of retirement and investor research, said in a released statement. “One factor influencing this trend is that today’s younger investors are relying more on the automatic rebalancing feature of target-date funds to keep their assets allocated in an age-appropriate way as they progress through their careers.”
Eighteen percent of all 401(k) participants had outstanding loans against their 401(k). Outstanding loans amounted to 12 percent of their remaining account balances, on average.
More than 90 percent of 401(k) participants invested at least some assets in equities.