How America Saves
Vanguard's annual report on 401(k) plan design and participant behavior, drawn from the plans it administers. It is the reference dataset on how Americans actually save for retirement.
Free to read
How America Saves is the benchmark study of U.S. defined contribution plans. Vanguard draws on the plans it administers, covering millions of participants, to report participation rates, deferral rates, account balances, investment choices, loans, withdrawals and trading. The 2026 edition is the 25th and covers 2025 plan data in a report of more than 100 pages, plus a small-business edition and industry benchmark reports.
The long run of data is what makes it valuable. You can trace the effect of automatic enrollment, the rise of target-date funds and professionally managed accounts, and how rarely participants trade when markets fall. The 2026 edition reports average plan participation of 86% and automatic enrollment at 61% of plans.
Finance readers should use it for two things: to understand the flows that drive index funds and target-date products, and as a model of how to present behavioral data clearly. Start with the highlights and executive summary, then dip into the sections on plan design and balances.
Start with
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1
How America Saves 2026 (full report PDF)
The 25th edition; the highlights and executive summary in the first 15 pages give the main findings.
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2
How America Saves 2025 (full report PDF)
The prior edition, useful for year-over-year comparison.