Benefits March 29, 2007

EBRI: Public Sector Pension/Annuity Income Greater than Private

March 29, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Fewer Americans age 50 and older received pension/annuity income from a public-sector plan than from a private-sector plan in 2005, but the public sector participant received a considerably larger amount.
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That was a conclusion from data contained in a new research paper by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).

According to an EBRI news release, 15.7% of men age 50 and older got private sector pension/annuity income in 2005 (10.3% of women of the same age), while 8.6% of men age 50 and older got public sector pension/annuity income (7.1% of women).

However, the average public sector income for men was $26,682 ($16,611 for women) and $13,920 for the private sector ($8,209 for women).

“Will today’s workers have a steady income stream when they retire? This is an important policy question for government, employers, and employees alike. Current trends show future retirees may not have a steady income stream in retirement,” the research paper asserted. “…. future retirees will likely be more reliant on assets they must manage themselves instead of receiving a stream of income for life (i.e., an annuity).”

EBRI said the data is taken from the March 2006 Current Population Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Additional pension/annuity income data is here .

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