U.S. Annuity Reserves (Retirement, Outside IRAs)

## What this measures

Retirement money held as annuities and pension reserves at life insurance companies, excluding annuities inside IRAs (counted in retirement.us.iras) and contracts held by pension funds (counted in the plans).

## Why it matters

Annuities turn savings into guaranteed income, and life insurers invest the reserves in corporate bonds and private credit.

## How to read it

It was $3,866 billion in the first quarter of 2026.

## What it does not say

Z.1 values are end-of-quarter levels in nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation, and they move with stock and bond prices as much as with saving. The Fed revises past quarters with each release. It includes both individual annuities and group annuity reserves insurers hold for pension plans ($1,991 billion in the first quarter of 2026), so it is broader than measures that count individual annuities only.

## Source

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1), series FL543150015 (FRED series BOGZ1FL543150015Q). Palanor pulls it from the FRED API (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) nightly.