Fidelity’s Q1 dataset records a decline in 401(k) accounts exceeding $1 million even as average deferral rates reached historic peaks, a pattern that primary plan-level records attribute to equity concentration rather than contribution shortfalls. Cross-referencing with the Federal Reserve’s Financial Accounts of the United States shows household equity exposure remains above 30 percent of total financial assets, amplifying balance-sheet sensitivity to single-quarter price movements. The MarketWatch summary understates the role of plan design: automatic escalation features have lifted savings rates, yet default investment menus continue to channel flows into target-date funds whose glide paths retain elevated equity allocations through age 65. Secondary analyses from the Investment Company Institute’s quarterly retirement data corroborate that net flows stayed positive while unrealized gains reversed, confirming the drop is valuation-driven. Policy documents such as the Department of Labor’s Form 5500 filings further indicate that smaller plans—those with fewer than 1,000 participants—exhibit higher rates of single-stock or sector concentration, a structural feature absent from aggregate headlines. These filings also reveal that catch-up contributions, newly expanded under SECURE 2.0, have not yet offset the threshold effect for cohorts approaching retirement. Multiple plan sponsor surveys, including those filed with the Employee Benefits Security Administration, suggest participants are not reducing deferrals but reallocating within equities rather than diversifying into fixed income, preserving the same volatility exposure that produced the millionaire count decline.