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The increase in the number of cash balance plans in the United States has jumped nearly 500% over the last decade, according to a report.
Kravitz’s 2013 National Cash Balance Research Report finds that there were 7,926 cash balance plans active in 2011 (the most recent year for which complete Internal Revenue Service reporting data is available), up from 1,337 in 2001.
More than 65% of such plans were established within the past six years, after the 2006 Pension Protection Act clarified their legality.
And there are 11.1 million participants in cash balance plans across the United States, with US$724 billion in assets.
The report also finds that small businesses are driving growth. Eighty-six percent of these plans are at companies with fewer than 100 employees.
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