Pension Publications

Many government agencies and private organizations collect statistics, conduct studies, and issue reports related to pensions and retirement income security. Click the links below to read reports on the following topics:

General Pension Reports
Defined Benefit vs. Defined Contribution Plans
Defined Benefit Plans
Defined Contribution Plans
Pension Plan Freezes, Changes, and Trends
Wealth, Savings, and Retirement Reports
Women's Retirement Security
Polls Related to Retirement Security
Public Pension Plans

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These are the latest reports added to our web site:

• Retirement Income: Challenges for Ensuring Income throughout Retirement (Government Accountability Office, April 2010). GAO was asked to examine (1) options retirees have for drawing on financial assets to replace preretirement income and options retirees choose, and (2) how pensions, annuities and other retirement savings vehicles are regulated. (General Pension Reports)

• Program Perspectives: "Frozen Defined-benefit Plans (Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 2010). This issue of Program Perspectives focuses on defined-benefit retirement plans that are frozen. (Reports on Defined Benefit Plans and Reports on Pension Plan Freezes, Changes, and Trends)

• Out of Balance? Comparing Public and Private Sector Compensation Over 20 Years (National Institute on Retirement Security and Center for State and Local Government Excellence, April 2010). This report examines the extent to which state and local government compensation in the United States is comparable to compensation in the private sector. (Reports on Public Pension Plans)

• Income of the Aged Chartbook, 2008 (Social Security Administration, April 2010). Since 1941, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has periodically surveyed the aged to determine their economic status. These SSA reports are published under the title Income of the Population 55 or Older. The most recent edition of that publication is based on 2008 data, which, along with special tabulations, form the basis of this chartbook. This publication covers the population aged 65 or older.

• The Funding of State and Local Pensions: 2009-2013 (Center for Retirement Research, April 2010). This brief reports state and local pension funding levels for fiscal 2009, a year for which stock market performance is known and for which actuarial valuations are available for roughly half of the 126 plans in our sample. It also reports projections for 2010-2013 under alternative assumptions about the performance of the stock market. (Reports on Public Pension Plans)

• Returns on 401(k) Assets by Cohort (Center for Retirement Research, March 2010). This brief puts the investment experience of the Early Boomers in context by comparing it with historical returns and with the experience of younger workers. (Reports on Defined Contribution Plans)

• Veterans’ Benefits: Pension Benefit Programs (Congressional Research Service, February 2010). The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers several pension programs for veterans and their surviving spouses and dependent children. This report will provide information on the most current pension programs—those programs for which a veteran, a surviving spouse, or a dependent child becomes eligible on or after January 1, 1979—and on the special pension program for Medal of Honor recipients. (General Pension Reports)

• Is Pension Inequality Growing? (Center for Retirement Research, January 2010). This brief documents and explores trends in pension participation by income. (General Pension Reports)

• Pension Coverage and Retirement Security (Center for Retirement Research, December 2009). At any given moment in time, only about half of private sector workers are covered by any sort of employer-sponsored plan. This lack of coverage has two implications. (General Pension Reports)

• Private Pension Plan Bulletin: Abstract of 2007 Form 5500 Annual Reports (Employee Benefits Security Administration, December 2009). This report, published annually, provides basic statistical data on the types of retirement plans offered, how many people participated in each type of plan, and the amount of assets in each type. (General Pension Reports)

• Private Pension Plan Bulletin Historical Tables and Graphs (Employee Benefits Security Administration, December 2009). This report provides basic statistical data on the types of retirement plans offered, how many people participated in each type of plan, and the amount of assets in each type from 1975 through 2007. (General Pension Reports)

• Does Autoenrollment Affect Employer Contributions? (Urban Institute, December 2009). Low participation rates limit the effectiveness of 401(k) plans as a reliable source of retirement income. About one in five workers eligible to participate in their employer’s 401(k) plans do not enroll (Munnell, Golub-Sass, and Muldoon 2009). Firms can raise participation rates by automatically enrolling employees as soon as they become eligible. However, higher participation rates increase costs for employers that match employee contributions, and firms appear to reduce the rate at which they contribute to 401(k) plans when they adopt autoenrollment. (Reports on Defined Contribution Plans)