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Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)
EBRI is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute based in Washington, DC, that focuses on objective research and education on health, retirement, and economic security issues. It is a major source of data on retirement plan coverage (especially 401(k) plan data), national retirement income adequacy projections, and health coverage and the uninsured. Its work is widely used by benefits professionals, the news media, and government policymakers.

EBRI is neither a trade association nor a think tank, but an independent institute. As such, it does not represent any special interests or ideological perspective, and its membership includes a broad range of benefit-related organizations that often have differing policy goals.

History
EBRI was founded in 1978 based on three principles: That employee benefit plans serve an essential function in the United States economy by providing citizens with opportunities to achieve financial security; an ongoing need exists for objective, unbiased information regarding the employee benefits system; and that its members’ common business interests will be furthered by having the Institute develop and disseminate such information.

Publications
EBRI has published extensive original research on 401(k) plans (the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database is the largest micro-level database of its kind in the nation), health insurance coverage and the uninsured,  and public opinion surveys related to retirement and health coverage.

Its two monthly periodicals are the EBRI Issue Brief and EBRI Notes. EBRI’s Fundamentals of Employee Benefit Programs is a major reference book used by news reporters, benefits professionals and academics. EBRI’s Databook on Employee Benefits is a major source of current information for professionals and policymakers.

All publications are available at EBRI’s website at no cost. EBRI also maintains a blog and Twitter site.

Programs
Through its Education and Research Fund (ERF), EBRI operates the Choose to Save national public education and outreach campaign, and the American Savings Education Council,  a national coalition of public- and private-sector organizations that promote saving. The Choose to Save campaign created a series of award-winning TV public service announcements (PSAs)  that promote personal savings and financial security. These are distributed nationally and are available free online.

Also as part of Choose to Save, EBRI developed the Ballpark E$timate, a free, easy-to-use, two-page worksheet that helps people quickly identify approximately how much they need to save to fund a comfortable retirement. This tool has been cited  as an effective and fast way to come up with an individual savings target, and is available on the Internet in both interactive and print format, as an IPhone app, and has been translated into Spanish.

Surveys
EBRI’s annual Retirement Confidence Survey,  which began in 1990, is the longest-running annual retirement survey of its kind in the nation. Its Health Confidence Survey asks similar questions on public attitudes on health issues. EBRI also conducted the earliest and most comprehensive surveys on consumer-directed health care plans.

Other EBRI surveys have looked at minority and small employer views on retirement;  the financial state of Gen X and Gen Y members;  parents, youth and money;  and workers’ perceptions of the value of benefits.

Policy Stance
EBRI does not take policy positions and does not lobby.

Policy Influence
EBRI was among the first to quantify the decline of traditional “defined benefit” pensions and the growth of defined contribution (401(k)-type) retirement plans, and has testified frequently before Congress on health, retirement, economic security policy issues.

EBRI’s Social Security modeling allows it to quantify winners and losers in various reform proposals. Its in-depth 1998 analysis was the first to identify and analyze the many administrative issues involved with adding private accounts to Social Security, at the time a major policy proposal.

In conjunction with the Investment Company Institute (ICI), EBRI created and operates the EBRI/ICI 401(k) database, the largest microdatabase of its kind in the nation tracking individual 401(k) participants. The EBRI/ICI database was the primary source of information about 401(k) assets held in company stock following the bankruptcy of Enron Corp. in 2001. EBRI is currently building a similar microdatabase for individual retirement accounts (IRAs) that will allow researchers to track 401(k) assets as they are rolled over into IRAs and spent down as workers retire.

More recently, EBRI has published detailed computer modeling showing likely retirement income adequacy levels for Americans by age and income.

EBRI also regularly publishes data on health insurance coverage and the uninsured, and has tracked the growth of the relatively new consumer-directed health care plans.

Funders
EBRI’s membership includes a very wide cross-section of groups involved in benefits issues but with often-divergent points of view: pension funds, businesses and benefit plan sponsors; labor unions; health care providers and insurers; government organizations; and consulting and service firms. Its full list of sustaining members is posted online.