5 Interesting Statistics on How Americans Use Their 401(k)s

The 401(k) is an American institution, a popular way for savers to prepare for retirement by making regular contributions from every paycheck. Vanguard keeps the records for more than 4 million different accounts, giving it a bird's-eye view into what people save for retirement and how they invest in the future.

Below, I'll share five of the most interesting stats gleaned from the data on Vanguard's 401(k) plans and participants.

Mutual funds and ETFs are responsible for the vast majority of assets held in 401(k) accounts, but data from Vanguard suggests that savers tend to use only a handful of funds to hold their wealth. On average, participants were offered 17.9 fund options in their 401(k), but the average account invested in just 2.7 of them.

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Source: Fool.com