Why Have Some States Introduced Defined Contribution Plans?
by Alicia H. Munnell, Alex Golub-Sass, Kelly Haverstick, Mauricio Soto, and Gregory Wiles
January 2008
SLP#3
Introduction
Although defined benefit plans dominate the state and local sector, in the last decade twelve states have introduced some form of defined contribution plan. The degree of compulsion varies among these states from mandatory participation in a defined contribution plan for new employees, to mandatory participation in both a defined benefit and defined contribution plan, to having the defined contribution plan only as an option...
For full paper in PDF
For more information on State and Local Pension Plans
Alicia H. Munnell is the Peter F. Drucker Professor of Management
Sciences in Boston College’s Carroll School of Management and Director
of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR). Alex
Golub-Sass is a research associate at the CRR. Kelly Haverstick is a
research economist at the CRR. Mauricio Soto is a senior research
associate at the CRR. Greg Wiles is a former research assistant of the
CRR. The authors would like to thank Elizabeth Hill and Daniel Kohler
for helpful comments.