Most of the Money in IRAs Comes from a Surprising Source

An older couple sits on a bench outside their rustic home, looking at a laptop.

In 2024, 44% of households in the United States owned IRAs, including 33% with traditional IRAs, 26% with Roth IRAs, and 4% with IRAs through their workplace. These IRAs collectively held around $16.2 trillion in assets in mid-2024, representing 38% of all U.S. retirement wealth.

However, while nearly half of all households now have an IRA — and these IRAs hold around 13% of household financial assets — very few people actively contribute money to these accounts regularly. In fact, fewer than one in five households invest money into IRAs.