Research & Analysis

New public opinion research finds that Americans are united in their concern about retirement. In overwhelming numbers, Americans say the nation faces a retirement crisis, with Democrats at 80 percent, Republicans at 75 percent, and Independents at 75 percent. These findings are contained in a new research, Retirement Insecurity 2019: Americans’ Views of the Retirement […]

Economic gains attributable to defined benefit (DB) pensions in the U.S. are substantial. Retiree spending of pension benefits in 2016 generated $1.2 trillion in total economic output, supporting some 7.5 million jobs across the U.S. Pension spending also added a total of $202.6 billion to government coffers, as taxes were paid at federal, state and […]

This report finds that teacher pension plans play a critical role in retaining educators while also providing greater retirement security than 401(k)-style retirement accounts. Eight out of ten educators serving in the six states studied can expect to collect pension benefits that are greater in value than what they could receive under an idealized […]

This study analyzes data on specific private sector pension plans (referred to as “multiemployer plans”) to assess the overall national economic impact of benefits paid by these plans to retirees. We estimate the employment, output, value added, and tax impacts of pension benefit expenditures from multiemployer plans at the national level, and find that the […]

This report finds that inequalities in access and eligibility to employer-sponsored retirement plans are contributing to persistent retirement savings gaps for Latinos. As a result, Latinos are falling even further behind in preparing for retirement. Only 31 percent of all working age Latinos participate in workplace retirement plans, resulting in a median retirement account balance […]

Retirement in America | Out of Reach for Most Americans finds that the retirement savings levels of working age Americans remain deeply inadequate despite economic recovery. An analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data reveals that the median retirement account balance among all working individuals is $0.00. The data also indicate that 57 percent (more than 100 million) of working age individuals […]

In partnership with NRTA: AARP’s Educator Community, NIRS has developed a series of state-by-state infographic fact sheets regarding the public employee and teacher retirement systems across the country. These fact sheets present a snapshot of these retirement systems along with key data from NIRS research and other sources. We invite you to learn more about each […]

A new report finds a deeply troubling retirement outlook for the Millennial generation. Most Millennials have nothing saved for retirement, and those who are saving aren’t saving nearly enough. The report indicates that many factors are contributing to this generation’s retirement savings challenges – from depressed wages to the lack of eligibility to participate in […]

A new report finds that defined benefit (DB) teacher pension plans work for both schools and teachers, and that there are important policy reasons to continue offering these retirement plans.

Public employees with retirement plan choice overwhelmingly choose defined benefit pension plans over defined contribution 401(k)-type individual accounts.

A new nationwide public opinion research report finds that an overwhelming majority of Americans – 86 percent – believe the nation faces a retirement crisis.

A new study finds that 72 percent of Coloradans believe that economic conditions are impacting their ability to achieve a secure retirement.

A new research report finds that across party lines, Americans are deeply worried about their economic security in retirement.

This report provides the national economic impacts of public and private pension plans, as well as the impact of state and local plans on a state-by-state basis.

This report finds that nearly all state retirement systems have features that allow for preservation of retirement income benefits, even for those employees who decide to change jobs.