Alternative Savings: Pension Plans
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 20% of American workers have pension plans. This is a huge difference from the statistics of just 40 years ago, when more than 40% of employees had pensions. Pension plans are different from traditional retirement or 401(k) accounts in that they require vesting and often pay out more than an IRA (although not always).

These plans reward you for years of service to your employer by paying a pre-determined sum monthly after you retire. This amount is calculated based on how much you earned and how long you worked for the company. You typically can’t be vested in a pension plan until you’ve worked for a company for at least a year, but some require up to five years of work history before they kick in. Either way, pensions are designed to offset retirement accounts and social security to provide you with enough income to fund your golden years. They are thought of to be more stable in volatile economic times, but recent recession scares have even muddled the verdict on this issue.
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