Nearly Half of Americans Confident Their Employers will Cover Their Pension Plans

According to the National Association for Variable Annuities (NAVA), this recent figure is a sharp climb from the 65% of Americans that thought so at the beginning of this year, which signifies a shifting mindset that individuals see themselves as more responsible for their financial futures.

More than half of the respondents to the Washington, DC-based non-profit’s survey who have not yet retired said they believe that their current or future employer would offer a guaranteed pension plan, despite employers’ move away from defined benefit plans toward defined contribution plans.

“We live in a climate where a number of highly visible, blue-chip companies are no longer offering pensions to new employees, and one would expect other companies to follow suit,” said Mark Mackey, president and CEO of NAVA, in a release. “While it’s encouraging to see that most Americans understand that they must take greater personal responsibility for their financial futures, they must also come to terms with the fact that fewer and fewer companies are offering pension plans,” he added.

The data from NAVA also shows that:

• 52% of Americans with household incomes of $25,000 or more are expecting their employer to provide a pension plan, and 40% of those making less than $25,000 expect the same.
• 50% of respondents aged 18 to 34 believe their employer will offer a pension plan.
• More women than men (51% v. 47%) said they are counting on company pension plans to provide retirement income.

The retirement data was generated by Kelton Research in April 2006 for NAVA, and included 1,000 respondents.