The single most important fact about how Americans invest for retirement is that most of them don't choose. Target-date funds are the default investment in most large 401(k) plans, and the default has won: 45,280 of 52,763 large plans (86%) hold one, and they account for $2.36 trillion, more than a third (37%) of every fund dollar in those plans.

Every size of plan uses them

Almost nothing else about 401(k) investing is this uniform. Fund vehicles, managers and fees all vary sharply with plan size; the decision to use a target-date fund doesn't.

Why the default won

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 let plans automatically enroll workers and invest them in a "qualified default investment alternative" with fiduciary protection. Target-date funds became the standard choice, because one fund handles the whole glide path from aggressive to conservative as the saver ages. Automatic enrollment then sends a steady stream of new contributions straight into them.

Why fund-level data matters here

These figures come from the fund-level holdings plans file on Form 5500 Schedule H. Much of that detail arrives as attached PDFs that few data providers parse, which is why most public figures on target-date use come from surveys of a few hundred plans, not from the filings themselves.

About the data

Figures cover 401(k) plans with more than 100 participants that list their holdings on Schedule H of Form 5500, for plan year 2024 (52,763 plans). Dollars are the plans' holdings in mutual funds, collective investment trusts (CITs) and pooled separate accounts on the Schedule of Assets Held.

Every plan, fund and manager behind these numbers is in Axiomatic Plan Intelligence. For more information, email us at info@axiomaticdata.com.

Updated November 2026 with figures from the latest complete plan year (2024). The original LinkedIn post used an earlier version of our data, so some numbers differ.

Originally posted on LinkedIn.