Pensions in the United States consist of the Social Security system, public employees retirement systems, as well as various private pension plans offered by employers, insurance companies, and unions.
Pensions in the United States consist of the Social Security system, public employees retirement systems, as well as various private pension plans offered by employers, insurance companies, and unions.
While various iterations of what could be considered pensions existed before the declared independence of the United States, most were designed solely for veterans of wars or set up as charitable initiatives by Church communities. This trend continued throughout early American history, with much of the first veterans' pension under the newly formed United States offered to retired naval officers in 1799. [2]
The United States Congress later created the Bureau of Pensions to oversee an increasing number of veterans' pensions in 1832 following the granting of pensions to all American Revolutionary War veterans. Eventually, responsibility for these pensions would be transferred to the Department of the Interior in 1849 as returning veterans from the Mexican–American War put further stress on the system. [3]
At the outset of the Civil War the General Law pension system was established by congress for both volunteer and conscripted soldiers fighting in the Union Army. [4] Payouts derived from this plan were based on degree of injury and subject to review by government boards. By 1890, general old-age pensions were incorporated for Union veterans. [5]
Outside of veterans' pensions, the institution of the first public pension plan for New York City Police is considered as the first iteration of a modern pension in the USA. The Police Life and Health Insurance Fund, created in 1857, provided payment to officers injured or otherwise disabled in the line of duty and offered compensation in a lump sum to families of officers killed in action. [6] The fund was initially funded not by state or municipal budgets, but by the sales of unclaimed stolen property, rewards, voluntary contributions and fines collected for violations of Sunday laws, [7] proving sufficient for the relatively low enrollment and demands of the initial plan.
The compensation scheme later came to cover firefighters as well, growing into a lifetime pension plan about 20 years after its initial creation, with added funding from more substantial sources. [8]
Within the private sector, the American Express and Baltimore and Ohio Railroad defined benefit pension plans are considered the first instances of major employers instituting a fully fledged retirement plan [9] The plans came to be established in 1875 and 1880 respectively. [10]
The United States saw significant growth in pension plans, both public and private, throughout the Progressive Era as labor sought more rights from larger, and often more industrialized employers. Private employer retirement plans also grew substantially following the passage of the Revenue Act of 1913, which implicitly granted tax exempt status to retirement plans, making them more economically desirable. [11]
Subsequent revenue acts in 1921 and 1926 added further, explicit benefits to contributions made to employees retirement plans (both defined contribution and benefit) spurring further growth. [12]
The establishment of the Social Security system and numerous New Deal initiatives aimed at providing a safe net for elderly Americans caused an explosion in the size of the nation's federal retirement investment.
From the New Deal through the 1960s, numerous federal acts and regulations were created in order to encourage and protect the growing number of pensioners in the US. In particular, early retirement options were added to Social Security benefits and IRS regulations were created that clearly defined tax policies and benefits to pensioners. [13] By the late 1960s, almost half of all employed persons in the United States had some form of pension. [14]
However, the next seminal event in the history of pensions would be the creation of the Employees Retirement Income Security Act, ostensibly enacted in response to the failure of Studebaker and the loss of pension benefits promised to thousands of employees. [15] Among other things, the act set fiduciary duties over pension plans, set funding requirements, and created the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation as a backstop to defined benefit plans.
Further shifts in tax regulations, age of participation, vesting status, and contribution limits would be set throughout the Reagan, Clinton, and Bush administrations. Most notably, the Retirement Equity Act of 1984 and The Tax Reform Act of 1986 made significant changes to maternity leave implications for retirement savings' vesting schedules, specific compensation brackets, and attempted to unify rules for individual retirement accounts. [16] Both acts built upon changes made in the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982.
Despite reform legislation under discussion in the ensuing decades, pension participation particularly in the private sector continues to decline. From a peak of nearly 50% prior to the ERISA, now less than 10% of private sector employees are granted a defined benefit pension plan [17]
A Defined Benefit Plan is commonly recognized as a "pension" in the United States. The structure of these plans guarantees a payout to a retiree following their date of retirement. This contrasts with a Defined Contribution Plan which creates a trust based on the amount invested by an employee during their working years. IRA, 401k plans, 403b, and 457 plans are prominent examples of the latter [19] [ better source needed ] and are not generally considered pensions in common parlance.
Pensions can either be qualified or non-qualified under U.S. law. For defined benefit plans, the benefits of a qualified plan are protections under the Employees Retirement Income Security Act and offer tax incentives for contributions made by employers to fund the plans. [20]
Non-Qualified plans are generally offered to employees at the higher echelons of companies as they do not qualify for income restrictions related to pensions. [21] [ better source needed ] Typical iterations of these plans include executive bonus structures and life insurance contracts. Plans are also typically deferred compensation rather than defined benefit. [22]
There are also delineations drawn between public pensions, private company pensions, and multi-employer pensions governed under Taft-Hartley Act regulations.
Multi-employer pensions necessitate a collective bargaining agreement between multiple employers and a labor union. The benefit of this structure is the mobility of labor between these employers without amending retirement and health benefits. A primary example of the benefit of these plans are the nations' Teamsters Unions whose employment demands necessitate movement across many geographies, maintaining benefits in each region. [23]
Multi-employer plans have courted a large degree of criticism in recent decades for corruption related to mob involvement and general misappropriation of pension funds. [24]
In response to growing concerns over funded ratios, the U.S. Congress enacting the Multi-employer Pension Protection Act of 1980 to increase funding requirements and curb bankruptcy fears. [25] Nonetheless, Congress was compelled to establish further regulations and restrictions on the specific stripe of plan in 2014 with the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA). [26] Given the billions of dollars in unfunded pension liabilities, the bill proposed reductions of pension benefits to plans slated to become insolvent. [27] The act also enforced penalty premiums on plans that necessitate PBGC intervention.
Social security benefits is income you receive from the government when you retire or if you have a disability that leaves you unable to work. The Social Security Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. Social security benefits are not solely for pension therefore criteria for receiving these benefits differ on the circumstance. If you work in the United States a percentage of every paycheck ever made is going to a social security tax. Essentially, whenever you are in a position unable to work, or at retirement age you will get social security benefits which you have been taxed on up until now. As of 2024, you can start receiving benefits at the age of 62, however then you are not entitled to the benefits in full. The full benefits will be received if you retire at 66 years and 8 months, however the government incentivizes that if you retire at 70, you will get a higher monthly paycheck. As of now, the money received by retirees is fixed and only dependent on the year of birth.
Various federal tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code apply to pension plans. Similar rules apply to profit-sharing plans and stock bonus plans, which are commonly used for retirement savings. Significant portions of these tax law provisions parallel portions of ERISA (see discussion in a preceding section of this article).
In April 2012, the Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The retirement fund is a defined benefit type pension plan and was only partially funded by the government, with only $268.4 million in assets and $911 million in liabilities. The plan experienced low investment returns and a benefit structure that had been increased without raises in funding. [28]
According to "Pensions and Investments", this is "apparently the first" US public pension plan to declare bankruptcy. [28]
In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodic employee contributions come directly out of their paychecks, and may be matched by the employer. This legal option is what makes 401(k) plans attractive to employees, and many employers offer this option to their (full-time) workers. 401(k) payable is a general ledger account that contains the amount of 401(k) plan pension payments that an employer has an obligation to remit to a pension plan administrator. This account is classified as a payroll liability, since the amount owed should be paid within one year.
A pension is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be:
In the United States, Social Security is the commonly used term for the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program and is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The Social Security Act was passed in 1935, and the existing version of the Act, as amended, encompasses several social welfare and social insurance programs.
In the United States, a 403(b) plan is a U.S. tax-advantaged retirement savings plan available for public education organizations, some non-profit employers (only Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) organizations), cooperative hospital service organizations, and self-employed ministers in the United States. It has tax treatment similar to a 401(k) plan, especially after the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. Both plans also require that distributions start at age 72 (according to the rules updated in 2020), known as Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). Distributions are typically taxed as ordinary income.
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a U.S. federal tax and labor law that establishes minimum standards for pension plans in private industry. It contains rules on the federal income tax effects of transactions associated with employee benefit plans. ERISA was enacted to protect the interests of employee benefit plan participants and their beneficiaries by:
A retirement plan is a financial arrangement designed to replace employment income upon retirement. These plans may be set up by employers, insurance companies, trade unions, the government, or other institutions. Congress has expressed a desire to encourage responsible retirement planning by granting favorable tax treatment to a wide variety of plans. Federal tax aspects of retirement plans in the United States are based on provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and the plans are regulated by the Department of Labor under the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is an independent agency in the executive branch of the United States government created in 1935 to administer a social insurance program providing retirement benefits to the country's railroad workers.
Employee benefits and benefits in kind, also called fringe benefits, perquisites, or perks, include various types of non-wage compensation provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries. Instances where an employee exchanges (cash) wages for some other form of benefit is generally referred to as a "salary packaging" or "salary exchange" arrangement. In most countries, most kinds of employee benefits are taxable to at least some degree. Examples of these benefits include: housing furnished or not, with or without free utilities; group insurance ; disability income protection; retirement benefits; daycare; tuition reimbursement; sick leave; vacation ; social security; profit sharing; employer student loan contributions; conveyancing; long service leave; domestic help (servants); and other specialized benefits.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is a United States federally chartered corporation created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to encourage the continuation and maintenance of voluntary private defined benefit pension plans, provide timely and uninterrupted payment of pension benefits, and keep pension insurance premiums at the lowest level necessary to carry out its operations. Subject to other statutory limitations, PBGC's single-employer insurance program pays pension benefits up to the maximum guaranteed benefit set by law to participants who retire at 65. The benefits payable to insured retirees who start their benefits at ages other than 65 or elect survivor coverage are adjusted to be equivalent in value. The maximum monthly guarantee for the multiemployer program is far lower and more complicated.
The pensions crisis or pensions timebomb is the predicted difficulty in paying for corporate or government employment retirement pensions in various countries, due to a difference between pension obligations and the resources set aside to fund them. The basic difficulty of the pension problem is that institutions must be sustained over far longer than the political planning horizon. Shifting demographics are causing a lower ratio of workers per retiree; contributing factors include retirees living longer, and lower birth rates. An international comparison of pension institution by countries is important to solve the pension crisis problem. There is significant debate regarding the magnitude and importance of the problem, as well as the solutions. One aspect and challenge of the "Pension timebomb" is that several countries' governments have a constitutional obligation to provide public services to its citizens, but the funding of these programs, such as healthcare are at a lack of funding, especially after the 2008 recession and the strain caused on the dependency ratio by an ageing population and a shrinking workforce, which increases costs of elderly care.
A defined contribution (DC) plan is a type of retirement plan in which the employer, employee or both make contributions on a regular basis. Individual accounts are set up for participants and benefits are based on the amounts credited to these accounts plus any investment earnings on the money in the account. In defined contribution plans, future benefits fluctuate on the basis of investment earnings. The most common type of defined contribution plan is a savings and thrift plan. Under this type of plan, the employee contributes a predetermined portion of his or her earnings to an individual account, all or part of which is matched by the employer.
The Pension Protection Act of 2006, 120 Stat. 780, was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush on August 17, 2006.
In the United States, the question whether any compensation plan is qualified or non-qualified is primarily a question of taxation under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). Any business prefers to deduct its expenses from its income, which will reduce the income subject to taxation. Expenses which are deductible ("qualified") have satisfied tests required by the IRC. Expenses which do not satisfy those tests ("non-qualified") are not deductible; even though the business has incurred the expense, the amount of that expenditure remains as part of taxable income. In most situations, any business will attempt to satisfy the requirements so that its expenditures are deductible business expenses.
Defined benefit (DB) pension plan is a type of pension plan in which an employer/sponsor promises a specified pension payment, lump-sum, or combination thereof on retirement that depends on an employee's earnings history, tenure of service and age, rather than depending directly on individual investment returns. Traditionally, many governmental and public entities, as well as a large number of corporations, provide defined benefit plans, sometimes as a means of compensating workers in lieu of increased pay.
India operates a complex pension system. There are however three major pillars to the Indian pension system: the solidarity social assistance called the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) for the elderly poor, the civil servants pension and the mandatory defined contribution pension programs run by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation of India for private sector employees and employees of state owned companies, and several voluntary plans.
Employer compensation in the United States refers to the cash compensation and benefits that an employee receives in exchange for the service they perform for their employer. Approximately 93% of the working population in the United States are employees earning a salary or wage.
The Cooperative and Small Employer Charity Pension Flexibility Act is a law that allows some charities, schools, and volunteer organizations to remain exempt from pension plan rules under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code.
The American Benefits Council (the Council) is a national trade association based in Washington, D.C. that advocates for employer-sponsored benefit plans. The Council's members represent the private employee benefits community and either sponsor directly or provide services to retirement and health benefit plans both nationally and internationally.
The Kline–Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 is a federal law that was enacted in the United States on December 16, 2014, with the goal of allowing certain American pension plans that have insufficient funds, and thus are at risk of insolvency, to reduce the benefits they owe to participants. The bill was co-sponsored by U.S. Representatives John Kline (R-Minnesota) and George Miller (D-California).
The Butch Lewis Act is an act of the United States Congress that would allow the United States Treasury to provide financial assistance to failing multiemployer pension plans. This assistance would come in the form of grants that would not need to be repaid to the Department of Treasury and would allow retirees to receive the entirety of their pension benefits.
(For Average household retirement savings account balance:) Estimates of 401(k), IRA, Keogh and other defined contribution account balances based on 2019 data. Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute. . . . (For median net worth:) Source: Federal Reserve.
