New IRS Tables Show What COVID-19 Did to IRAs
Both traditional and Roth IRAs benefited from rescue money.
New Internal Revenue Service tax data tables show what the COVID-19 pandemic — and federal pandemic support payments — did to Americans’ retirement savings in 2020.
The number of taxpayers who contributed to traditional IRAs increased 8.7% during the first year of the pandemic, to 4.6 million, and the number of contributed to Roth IRAs increased 2.5%, to 9.2 million.
Average contributions to both traditional and Roth IRAs also increased.
The number of contributors and average contribution amounts increased for most income categories.
For detailed data, see the chart below.
COVID-19 and IRAs in 2020.
| Traditional IRAs | Roth IRAs | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income Percentile Group | Lower income limit | Number with contributions | Change from 2019 | Average contribution | Change from 2019 | Number with contributions | Change from 2019 | Average contribution | Change from 2019 |
| …0-25… | …$0… | …303,056… | …12.3%… | …2,965… | …8.2%… | …1,051,116… | …16.3%… | …2,741… | …10.9%… |
| …25-50… | …$21,679… | …708,928… | …15.8%… | …3,284… | …6.2%… | …1,644,522… | …16.3%… | …2,712… | …2.6%… |
| …50-75… | …$44,119… | …1,129,509… | …1.5%… | …3,889… | …2.5%… | …2,833,286… | …16.1%… | …3,589… | …2.9%… |
| …75-90… | …$87,946… | …1,091,503… | …8.9%… | …4,504… | …0.9%… | …2,721,139… | …15.0%… | …4,147… | …0.1%… |
| …90-95… | …$154,684… | …572,035… | …12.2%… | …4,874… | …-0.5%… | …743,806… | …12.0%… | …4,417… | …7.1%… |
| …95-99… | …$224,069… | …847,293… | …8.5%… | …5,758… | …0.0%… | …194,754… | …43.7%… | …4,068… | …9.2%… |
| …99… | …$561,351… | …309,637… | …11.1%… | …6,239… | …0.1%… | …22,100… | …43.8%… | …4,914… | …-1.6%… |
| …All… | …4,566,422… | …8.7%… | …4,461… | …1.5%… | …9,210,723… | …2.5%… | …3,581… | …3.0%… | |
The IRS headquarters in Washington. (Photo: Allison Bell/ALM)