Report State Dept Of Pensions And Security PDF Download

Defined contribution (DC) plans, in which individuals save for their own retirement, have become the dominant form of retirement plan for U.S. workers. However, not all workers have access to or participate in such plans through their employer. DC plans also shift more risk to participants compared to traditional defined benefit (DB) pension plans. For example, a worker often needs to decide to participate in a DC plan, make regular contributions, and decide how to invest those savings before retirement. GAO was asked to review recent trends and future prospects for DC plan savings. This report focuses on 1) recent trends in DC plan participation and account savings, and 2) how much households could potentially save in DC plans over their careers, and how key individual and employer decisions affect plan saving. GAO analyzed household financial data from the Federal Reserve's triennial Survey of Consumer Finances (for 2004 through 2013, the most recent available). GAO also analyzed projected DC savings for a cohort of individuals born in 1997 using microsimulation models developed by the Policy Simulation Group. These simulation models allowed GAO to analyze the projected effect of certain decisions made by the employer and plan participant on DC savings at retirement. The selected simulations were informed by a review of the literature and interviews with retirement experts. GAO is making no recommendations in this report.