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Pension Plan Research Paper

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There are four main types of pension plans:
A. Defined benefit (DB)
B. Defined contribution (DC).
C. Government pension or Social security system
D. Self style pension or personal pension savings

A. Defined benefit (DB)
With a defined-benefit pension, the employer takes the risk of investing the money and of having you live and collect for longer than it expects. You get guaranteed income and all that you need to do is to work, contribute and reach retirement age. Everything else is taken care of for you, including having the funds professionally managed for you.

A DB pension plan promises to pay you a certain amount of retirement income for life. The amount of your pension is based on a formula that usually takes into account your earnings …show more content…

Defined contribution (DC)
Defined benefit pension plans frequently get replaced by defined contribution plans. Defined contribution plans, like a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, operate by having you, your employer or both put money into the plan. The money hopefully grows over time and when you retire, you can draw on that money to fund your retirement. If the money does very well, you could end up with a lot of money and generous retirement income. However, if it doesn't perform well or you don't put enough away, you could end up short of what you need for retirement.

With a DC plan, contributions are guaranteed, but retirement income is not. Usually, both you and your employer contribute to the plan. Your employer may match some of the contributions you make. You are responsible for investing all contributions to grow your savings. In this way, the plan is similar to an RRSP. The amount available for your retirement depends on the total contributions made to your account and the investment returns this money earned. At retirement, you use the money in your account to generate retirement income. You can do this by: buying an annuity from an insurance company, or transferring your savings to a locked-in retirement income fund (LRIF) or similar income fund designed specifically for pension

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