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During the early 1980s, most IRA money poured into banks and savings and loan associations because interest rates were going into outer space. But one- year certificates of deposit, which earned a handsome 15% or more in 1981, now bring savers only 8% or so. Result: many consumers, suffering from single- digit shock, have started moving their IRA accounts to Wall Street in search of better yields. IRAs invested in stocks typically earned a 26% return last year. "We're clobbering the banks. It looks like the tables have turned," boasts Gary Strum, first vice president in charge of pension services for E.F. Hutton. Thrift institutions in particular have suffered a drain. Their share of IRAs has fallen from 54% in 1982 to 28% today.
The surge of IRA money into stocks has become a self-perpetuating trend by helping keep the bull market going. Last week the Dow Jones industrial average closed at a record 1821.72, up 53.16 points for the week.
The banks and thrifts have launched a strenuous effort to keep the brokers from hijacking their customers. Many have teamed up with investment firms so they too can offer stock packages. More visibly, financial institutions are showering consumers with promotional giveaways and extending hours. Customers who open an IRA at North Carolina Federal Savings and Loan in Charlotte automatically enter a drawing for a free round-trip Piedmont Airlines ticket, which can be used on any of the routes the carrier flies, from Miami to San Francisco. New York City's Dollar Dry Dock Savings Bank is offering new IRA depositors an immediate cash bonus of up to $30. The First National Bank of Chicago has set up an IRA center that will be open on the Saturday before the deadline and until midnight on April 15. To handle the rush, senior executives will be tapped to wait on customers.
If consumers lack the cash to start an IRA, some banks will lend it to them. Borrowing money to put in the bank sounds paradoxical, yet it makes sense for some people because the interest on the loan is tax deductible. New York City's Chemical Bank, which urges customers to think about an IRA "even if you don't have the money," calculates that a taxpayer in the 35% bracket would pay about $154 in interest on a $2,000 one-year loan but could recover $54 of that by deducting the payment on an itemized federal income tax return. Meanwhile, the customer's IRA, invested at about 9%, will have earned $183.
Many people who were novice investors when they first started an IRA have become armchair financiers. Instead of consolidating their contributions in one safe place, many IRA holders shuttle their accounts from one investment to another as the economic winds change. Says Alfred Johnson, chief economist for the Investment Company Institute: "They no longer view IRAs as passive accounts that gather dust until retirement. IRAs have become aggressive investment tools. Consumers invest in them because they want to get rich." The fastest-growing new account is the self-directed variety, in which the customer can switch from, say, Treasury bonds to a real estate investment trust. Citibank offers an account called Direct Access that enables investors to monitor their IRAs on home computers.