Private Pensions: Plan Features Provided By Employers That Sponsor Only DefinedContribution Plans

摘要

The report, which completes the authors' work in response to your request,identifies the general features of defined contribution (DC) plans in the private sector. This report describes patterns in the plans; and also presents information on the six features for the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)--the defined contribution plan component of the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS)--for comparison. Also as agreed, this report summarizes the explanations provided in retirement literature and by pension experts with whom the authors consulted on why employers might decide to sponsor more than one pension plan for the same groups of employees.