Summary
Worker Attitudes Toward Retirement Financial Planning—Current workers tend to have a rather optimistic outlook regarding the conditions of their retirement, yet they appear to feel less optimistic about their preparations to retire. It appears workers want and plan to retire before the normal retirement age of 65, and they have high expectations for their standard of living in retirement. However, many workers admit their current actions in preparing for this type of retirement may not be adequate.
Total Private and Public Pension Assets Reach $4.4 Trillion by Year-End 1992—Between 1983 and 1992, total private and public pension assets increased 180 percent, from $1.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion. At the end of 1992, private trusteed pension fund assets represented slightly more than one-half of total pension assets, federal government retirement fund assets made up 6.9 percent, and state and local pension fund assets represented 22.5 percent (chart 1). Slightly less than 17 percent of total pension fund assets were in private insured pension funds at the end of 1991, the latest year for which data are available.
Public Attitudes on Benefit Tradeoffs: Results of New EBRI/Gallup Survey—Sixty-five percent of Americans said they would be willing to accept a reduction in employer contributions to a pension plan in exchange for increased health benefits, according to a recent public opinion survey conducted by EBRI and The Gallup Organization, Inc. When Americans were asked if they would be willing to accept a reduction in employer-provided health benefits for increased contributions to a pension plan, 37 percent said yes.