Among all civilian workers, 57
percent worked for an employer where a retirement plan
was sponsored in 1993, the same percentage as in 1988.
The participation rate rose from 43 percent in 1988 to 44
percent in 1993. The vesting rate was 38 percent in 1993
versus 34 percent in 1988. Therefore, downward trends of
sponsorship and participation in the 1980s have bottomed
out, if not actually reversed direction.
In 1993, 62.1 percent of all
civilian nonagricultural wage and salary workers worked
for a firm where an employment-based retirement plan was
sponsored, 75.9 percent of these workers actually
participated, and 85.5 percent of those participating
were vested. Sponsorship, participation, and vesting
tended to increase with annual hours, earnings, tenure,
firm size, and worker age.
Among civilian nonagricultural wage
and salary workers, 37 percent were with an employer who
sponsored a salary reduction plan in 1993, compared with
26.9 percent in 1988. Among those offered such a plan,
the percentage participating increased from 57.0 percent
to 64.6 percent. In 1988, 49.1 percent of salary
reduction participants reported the plan as being their
primary retirement plan, while in 1993, 73.3 percent of
participants reported the plan as primary.
Among workers with any pension
participation in 1993, 9.2 percent contributed to an
individual retirement account in 1992, compared with 6.3
percent of those not participating in an employment-based
plan.
In 1993, 12.4 million persons
reported ever receiving a lump-sum distribution from a
retirement plan. The mean amount received was $10,795
(1993 dollars) and the median was $3,507.
Among lump-sum distribution
recipients, 41.5 percent reported using at least some of
the money for tax-qualified financial saving, and 19
percent used the entire amount for this purpose. The
likelihood of using the distribution for tax-qualified
saving increased with the size of the distribution and
the age of the recipient at receipt and was more likely
the more recent the year of receipt.
