scholarly journals Retirement Savings Of Private And Public Sector Employees: A Comparative Study

Author(s):  
Swarn Chatterjee

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">This study examines the retirement plan participation and savings for United States government employees using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics data set. The findings of this study indicate that plan participation increases with age, income and educational attainment. More Government employees are enrolled in defined benefit plans than non Government employees. Also, those government employees who participate in defined contribution plans hold greater amounts within their plans and make greater contributions into their retirement plans than the non government employees. Minorities and employees with lower income are less likely to participate in the Individual Retirement Accounts, while those with higher educational attainment are more likely to participate. </span></span></p>

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (04) ◽  
pp. 529-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph F. Quinn ◽  
Kevin E. Cahill ◽  
Michael D. Giandrea

AbstractDo the retirement patterns of public-sector workers differ from those in the private sector? The latter typically face a retirement landscape with exposure to market uncertainties through defined-contribution pension plans and private saving. Public-sector workers, in contrast, are often covered by defined-benefit pension plans that encourage retirement at relatively young ages and offer financial security at older ages. We examine how private- and public-sector workers transition from full-time career employment, with a focus on the importance of gradual retirement. To our surprise, we find that the prevalence of continued work after career employment, predominantly on bridge jobs with new employers, is very similar in the two sectors, a result with important implications in a rapidly aging society.


2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 624-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Eason ◽  
P. Barker ◽  
G. Foroughi ◽  
J. Harsant ◽  
D. Hunter ◽  
...  

AbstractThe UK has seen a significant transition from Defined Benefit (“DB”) to Defined Contribution (“DC”) for occupational pension saving. The planned automatic enrolment program starting in 2012 is expected to increase the use of DC. The main features of DC are that investment risk falls onto the individual during the pre-retirement phase and that there are no guarantees as to investment returns or the level of pension. In July 2012, Steve Webb, the Pensions Minister, challenged industry to think hard about meeting the need for more certainty about pension savings in DC plans and to consider providing an affordable ‘Money Safe’ guarantee where the member would get back at least the nominal value of their contributions (individual, employer and tax relief). This paper explores whether this is viable for the mass market.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 342-356
Author(s):  
Rui Yao ◽  
Weipeng Wu ◽  
Cody Mendenhall

As defined contribution (DC) plans become more popular than defined benefit (DB) plans, American workers are increasingly responsible for their retirement savings. Because retirement plan participants' portfolio allocation is constrained by the available funds in the plan, the construction of a plan's investment menu has become extremely important. No research has evaluated fund selection in retirement plans or compared plans involving an advisor with self-directed plans. To fill this research gap, this study employs cross-sectional, nationwide data that include 5,570 retirement plans with 100 or more participants in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Results show that in most cases, using advisors is not related to plan performance. Plan sponsors should require advisors to periodically evaluate the performance of plans under their management using objective measures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 442-457
Author(s):  
Wenliang Hou ◽  
Alicia Munnell ◽  
Geoffrey Todd Sanzenbacher ◽  
Yinji Li

AbstractOver the past two decades, the share of individuals claiming Social Security at the Early Eligibility Age has dropped and the average retirement age has increased. At the same time, Social Security rules have changed substantially, employer-sponsored retirement plans have shifted from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC), health has improved, and mortality has decreased. In theory, all of these changes could lead to a trend toward later claiming. Disentangling the effect of any one change is difficult because they have been occurring simultaneously. This paper uses the Gustman and Steinmeier structural model of retirement timing to investigate which of these changes matter most by simulating their effects on the original cohort (1931–1941) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The predicted behavior is then compared with the actual retirements of the Early Boomer cohort (1948–1953) to see how much of the later cohort's delayed claiming and retirement can be explained by these changes. The Early Boomer cohort was less likely to be fully retired than the HRS cohort at both age 62 (36.7% vs. 44.0%) and age 64 (49.5% vs. 53.9%). The model suggests that the shift from DB toward DC plans was the biggest contributor to these declines, followed by better health. Social Security rules and improvements in mortality played smaller roles.


2020 ◽  
pp. JFCP-18-00050
Author(s):  
Michael P. Ryan ◽  
Brenda J. Cude

Most private sector employees have access to defined contribution retirement plans while public sector employees often may choose defined benefit or defined contribution plans. This research utilized a survey of faculty to analyze retirement plan satisfaction. Advice from a financial planner was positively associated with satisfaction with portability. Retirement plan knowledge was negatively associated with satisfaction on the decision period. Selection of a defined benefit plan was positively related to four aspects of satisfaction and negatively related to regret. Financial planners assisting individuals who face such choices should acknowledge the decision's challenges and evaluate the client's level of retirement planning knowledge. Focusing on long-term goals and the client's investment and mobility risk tolerance may be helpful, especially after market corrections.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
JAMES FARRELL ◽  
DANIEL SHOAG

AbstractState and local pension plans are increasingly moving from the traditional defined benefit (DB) model to non-DB models that generally allow for participant-directed investment. This shift has important implications for the management of the more than US$3 trillion in assets held to finance public employee retirement benefits. To investigate these implications, we introduce new data from a nationwide survey of public DB and non-DB plans and a unique data set on thousands of individual investors in the state of Florida's defined contribution (DC) plan. Using these sources, we explore how participant involvement in the public sector affects the distribution of asset class allocations, management fees, investment outcomes, and portfolio rebalancing at both the individual and aggregate levels. We found that there is little difference between the DB and non-DB plans in terms of asset mix, returns, and fees, except that DB plan have greater access and allocations to alternative investments. We also found that while the average individual DC plan participant allocated their asset similarly to the DB plan, black females and older white males, on average, invested on opposite tails of the risk spectrum.


2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEVEN A. NYCE

AbstractMany organizations have either already terminated their defined benefit (DB) plans or are thinking about it, in order to offload the financial and regulatory risks these programs pose. But plan sponsors should think carefully about how their decision might affect their workers' commitment and productivity – and ultimately their organization's success.To answer those and other retirement questions, Watson Wyatt set out to learn how DB and defined contribution (DC) plans affect employees' workforce behavior and decisions. Watson Wyatt's Retirement Attitude Survey (WWRAS) found that, while most workers value both types of plans very highly, workers with DB plans generally appreciate their retirement programs significantly more than those with only a DC plan. This was particularly the case for those with a hybrid pension plan. This analysis found that retirement plan generosity and effective communication strongly affect a plan's perceived value to employees. This has important implications for plan sponsors, since greater plan appreciation is strongly linked to employee commitment. In fact, we found that workers covered by a defined benefit plan express a very strong commitment to their current employer, while DC plan coverage has no effect on employee commitment. This is partly owing to a selection effect, whereby firms with DB plans tend to attract more committed workers. However, even after controlling for the selection effect, DB plans exert an independent effect on the likelihood that employees will stay with their employer.


2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-390
Author(s):  
ROGER J. BOWDEN

AbstractAs life tables continue to lengthen, a world-wide paradigm shift to defined contribution – but undefined rewards – has left pensioners exposed to performance, credit, and longevity risk. However, relatively risk-free defined benefit schemes can be designed off the back of high-grade debt issuance programmes by public long-term asset vehicles, as an infrastructure–retirement double play. Derivatives can be used to enhance coupons and to correctly align risk preferences as between income while still alive and bequests. Variable lifetime reinvested coupon options and annuity swaps utilize market pricing to provide unambiguous pricing benchmarks and a necessary underpinning of lifecycle planning certainty. The result is a flexible mix of private and public provision of old age income assurance, one that exploits the externalities of a well-designed system of public debt.


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