Pensions in the American Economy

by Kotlikoff, Laurence J.; Smith, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780226451466
• ISBN10: 0226451461
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1984-01-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

For anyone with an interest in pensionsworkers and employers, personnel directors, accountants, actuaries, lawyers, insurance agents, financial analysts, government officials, and social scientiststhis book is required reading. Now, without the aid of a pension specialist, anyone can determine how their particular pension plan stacks up against the average. Using virtually all available government sources (including computerized data unavailable in print) and their own extensive surveys, the authors present a comprehensive description of the structural features and financial conditions of U.S. private, state, city, and municipal pension plans. The introductions to the hundreds of tables explain and highlight the information. The picture that emerges of the "typical" plan and its significant variations is crucial to all those with a financial stake in pensions. The reader can compare pension vesting, retirement, and benefit provisions by plan type, plan size, industry, union status, and many more characteristics. With this information, workers can evaluate just how generous their employer is; job applicants can compare fringe benefits of prospective employers; personnel directors can judge their competitive edge. The financial community will find especially interesting the analysis of the unfunded liabilities of private, state, and local pension funds. The investment decisions of private and public pension funds and their return performances are described as well. Government officials and social scientists will find the analysis of pension coverage, the receipt of pension income by the elderly, cost-of-living adjustments, and disability insurance of special importance in evaluating the proper degree of public intervention in the area of old age income support. Pensions in the American Economy is comprehensive and easy to use. Every reader, from small-business owners and civil servants to pension fund specialists, will find in it essential information about this increasingly important part of labor compensation and retirement finances.

Table of Contents

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Pensions and the Economics of Aging

Objectives and Organization

The Emerging Role of Pensions in the American Economy: Postwar Patterns of Growth

A Profile of Pension Participants

A Profile of Pension Beneficiaries

The Structure of Private Pension Plans

The Structure of State and Local Pension Plans

The Financial Status of Private, State, and Local Pension Plans

Pensions in the American Economy: Problems and Prospects

Description of Data

Pension Coverage of Workers and Pension Income Receipt among the Elderly

Pension Coverage of Workers: Time Series Analysis

Pension Coverage of Private Wage and Salary Workers: Cross-sectional Analysis

Distribution of Private Covered Workers by Pension Plan Characteristics

A Private Pension Vested Coverage

Elderly Pension Recipients: Economic and Demographic Characteristics

Distribution of Private Pension Benefit Recipients by Pension Characteristics

Pension Income of the Elderly

Pension Benefit Replacement Rates

Disability Benefit Replacement Rates

Coverage under Alternative Pension Vehicles

The Structure of Private Pension Plans

The Distribution of Private Pension Plan Types

Participation Requirements of Private Pension Plans

Vesting Provisions of Private Pension Plans

Portability Provisions of Private Pension Plans

Benefit Formulae and Benefit Levels of Private Defined Benefit Plans

Normal Retirement Provisions of Private Pension Plans

Early Retirement Provisions of Private Pension Plans

Benefit Reductions of Private Pension Plans for Early Retirement

Benefit Accrual after Normal Retirement

Cost of Living Adjustments of Private Pension Plans

Disability Provisions of Private Pension Plans

Financial Aspects of Private Pension Plans

Contributions to Private Pension Funds: Time Series Analysis

Contributions to Private Pension Funds: Cross-sectional Analysis

Private Pension Fund Benefit Payments: Time Series Analysis

Private Pension Fund Benefit Payments: Cross-sectional Analysis

Private Pension Fund Assets: Time Series Analysis

Private Pension Fund Assets: Cross-sectional Analysis

Funding Status of Large Corporate Pension Funds

Return Performance of Private Pension Funds

The Structure of State and Local Pension Plans

Number of State and Local Pension Plans and Participants

Participation Requirements of State and Local Pension Plans

Vesting Provisions of State and Local Pension Plans

Benefit Formulae and Benefit Levels of State and Local Defined Benefit Pension Plans

Normal Retirement Provisions of State and Local Pension Plans

Early Retirement Provisions of State and Local Pension Plans

Financial Aspects of State and Local Pension Plans

Contributions to State and Local Pension Funds: Time Series Analysis

Contributions to State and Local Pension Funds: Cross-Sectional Analysis

State and Local Pension Fund Benefit Payments: Time Series Analysis

State and Local Pension Fund Benefit Payments: Cross-sectional Analysis

State and Local Pension Fund Assets: Time Series Analysis

State and Local Pension Fund Assets: Cross-sectional Analysis

Financial Status of State-administered Pension Funds

Financial Status of Large-City Pension Funds

Financial Status of Selected Large Local Pension Funds

Financial Status of Small Local Pension Funds

return Performance of Public Pension Funds

Notes

References

Index

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