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Defined Benefit Pension Plan Distribution Decisions by Public Sector Employees

In: Retirement Benefits for State and Local Employees: Designing Pension Plans for the Twenty-First Century

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  • Robert L. Clark
  • Melinda Sandler Morrill
  • David Vanderweide

Abstract

Studies examining pension distribution choices have found that the tendency of private-sector workers is to select lump sum distributions instead of life annuities resulting in leakage of retirement savings. In the public sector, defined benefit pensions usually offer lump sum distributions equal to employee contributions, not the present value of the annuity. Thus, for terminating employees that are younger or have shorter tenures, the lump sum distribution amount may exceed the present value of the annuity. We discuss the factors that may influence the choice to withdraw funds or not in this environment. Using administrative data from the North Carolina state and local government retirement systems, we find that over two-thirds of public sector workers under age 50 separating prior to retirement from public plans in North Carolina left their accounts open and did not request a cash distribution from the pension system within one year of separation. Furthermore, the evidence suggests many separating workers, particularly those with short tenure, may be forgoing substantial monetary benefits due to lack of knowledge, understanding, or accessibility of benefits. We find no evidence of a bias toward cash distributions for public employees in North Carolina.
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Suggested Citation

  • Robert L. Clark & Melinda Sandler Morrill & David Vanderweide, 2012. "Defined Benefit Pension Plan Distribution Decisions by Public Sector Employees," NBER Chapters, in: Retirement Benefits for State and Local Employees: Designing Pension Plans for the Twenty-First Century, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:13233
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    Cited by:

    1. Lucas Goodman & Anita Mukherjee & Shanthi Ramnath, 2022. "Set it and Forget it? Financing Retirement in an Age of Defaults," Working Paper Series WP 2022-50, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    2. Touria Jaaidane & Robert J. Gary-Bobo, 2018. "The Evaluation of Pension Reforms in the Public Sector: A Case Study of the Paris Subway Drivers," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 174(2), pages 245-277, June.
    3. Lambregts, Timo R. & Schut, Frederik T., 2020. "Displaced, disliked and misunderstood: A systematic review of the reasons for low uptake of long-term care insurance and life annuities," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    4. Nino Abashidze & Robert L. Clark & Beth Ritter & David Vanderweide, 2018. "Annuity Pricing in Public Pension Plans: Importance of Interest Rates," NBER Working Papers 25343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Clark, Robert L. & Hammond, Robert G. & Vanderweide, David, 2019. "Navigating complex financial decisions at retirement: evidence from annuity choices in public sector pensions," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 594-611, October.
    6. M. Martin Boyer, 2018. "La gestion et le dépistage des risques liés au vieillissement, et le rôle des régimes de retraite dans le marché de l’assurance de soins de longue durée," CIRANO Project Reports 2018rp-03, CIRANO.
    7. J. Michael Collins & Carly Urban, 2016. "The Role Of Information On Retirement Planning: Evidence From A Field Study," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(4), pages 1860-1872, October.
    8. Martin Boyer & Franca Glenzer, 2016. "Pensions, annuities, and long-term care insurance: On the impact of risk screening," Cahiers de recherche 1603, Chaire de recherche Industrielle Alliance sur les enjeux économiques des changements démographiques.
    9. Goodman, Lucas & Mukherjee, Anita & Ramnath, Shanthi, 2023. "Set it and forget it? Financing retirement in an age of defaults," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(1), pages 47-68.
    10. Robert L. Clark & Robert G. Hammond & Melinda S. Morrill & David Vanderweide, 2017. "Annuity Options in Public Pension Plans: The Curious Case of Social Security Leveling," NBER Working Papers 23262, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets

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