Ensuring Retirement Income Security
- Total pension coverage hovers at about half of the total private-sector labor force, despite tax incentives.
- Sponsors continue to terminate or freeze their traditional defined benefit plans, reducing future benefit accruals for affected workers.
- Many workers covered by defined contribution pension plans continue to choose not to participate; many who do contribute accumulate only small balances.
Figure 3: Total Defined Contribution Plan Balances for Working Individuals with a Current or Former Defined Contribution Plan, by Age Group, 2004
^ Back to topWhat Needs to Be Done
Policymakers will need to consider how to best encourage wider pension coverage, adequate and secure pension benefits, and the role of tax preferences in retirement benefit provisions. In particular, Treasury will need to assess the relative effectiveness and distributional effects of relying on existing tax preferences to foster workers’ retirement security.^ Back to topKey Reports
Private Pensions
Low Defined Contribution Plan Savings May Pose Challenges to Retirement Security, Especially for Many Low-Income Workers
GAO-08-8, Dec 11, 2007
GAO-08-8, Dec 11, 2007
Defined Benefit Pensions
Plan Freezes Affect Millions of Participants and May Pose Retirement Income Challenges
GAO-08-817, Jul 21, 2008
More Reports
GAO-08-817, Jul 21, 2008
