Nearly 6 million people rolled money into Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) in 2023, according to IRS data. Investors moved $682 billion into IRAs through rollovers and made $89 billion in direct contributions during the same year.

David Blanchett, head of retirement research for Prudential Financial, stated that the majority of funds in IRAs originate from rollovers. Blanchett said, "All the money in IRAs is coming from rollovers." He added, however, that "People by and large don't save money in IRAs at all."

From 2020 to 2025, traditional IRAs increased their total assets by approximately $5.2 trillion. Rollovers accounted for $3.8 trillion of this growth, with direct contributions adding $119 billion. Market appreciation contributed $3.9 trillion to these assets during the same period.

Investors withdrew about $2.5 trillion from traditional IRAs between 2020 and 2025. At the end of 2025, IRAs held approximately $19.2 trillion in assets. Projections from Cerulli Associates estimate that investors will roll over $941 billion to IRAs in 2026 and about $1.3 trillion in 2031.

The number of people rolling money into IRAs has increased over time. Approximately 4 million people annually rolled money into an IRA in the early 2000s. More than 4 million Americans turn 65 years old each year, with over 11,000 reaching that age daily.

Employers maintain a legal fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of workers participating in their company retirement plans. Philip Chao, founder and chief investment officer of Experiential Wealth, addressed concerns regarding the transfer of funds, noting, "So many people become victims of overzealous salespeople."