10 Jobs That Will Guarantee You a Traditional Pension:

Have you noticed that most jobs don’t even offer traditional pension plans that would represent a safe promise to workers they’d have a guaranteed income in retirement? In fact, no more than a quarter of civilian workers were actually offered a traditional pension plan in 2021, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics data has shown.

However, only a couple of jobs and industries still maintain this tradition and provide workers with steady pension payments for their golden years. Jobs that offer such pensions can be found only in a couple of specific fields, which is a bummer.

Government and union employees are the most likely to have access to these pension benefits. Here are some of the jobs that would guarantee you a steady paycheck right after you retire:

Teacher

The wide majority, meaning 85%, of primary, secondary, and special education teachers who are currently working in schools are granted full access to traditional pension plans for their retirement, according to BLS. Over half of them (62%) that work at colleges and universities also have pension coverage.

“Teachers are still covered by defined benefit pensions” as Melinda Morrill, a well-known professor of economics at the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University, explained. “Even if public employers are making some movement away from these types of plans, the wide majority of public sector workers might still be covered by defined benefit pension plans.”

The median pay circles around $60,660, if you work at the elementary school level, and $62,870 if you work at the high school level. Of course, it varies also on the state and the school district.

Teachers who meet all of their pension requirements should expect to receive a specific portion of their former salary during their golden years.

State and local government

Nearly all state and local government employees, meaning 86% of them, are fully eligible for a traditional pension plan. “The government, federal, state, and local, might still be some of the most common places to find this kind of defined benefit pension” as David Love, a professor of economics at Williams College, explained.

He also added that some state and local governments have been updated about defined contribution plans, but defined benefits are still wildly popular and available for new employees.

The state government is known to have higher pension coverage than the local government, and union government employees are most likely to have a better pension than nonunion workers. In the majority of cases, part-time government employees don’t even qualify for the pension plan.

Utilities

Utility companies offer pension coverage to 71% of their employees, as BLS data has shown. Some of these utility companies decided to close the pension plan to recent hires, but they keep on providing pension benefits to existing workers.

“Utilities are usually heavily unionized, and generally prefer to keep their whole retirement structure as consistent as possible, especially between their union and nonunion workforces.” as Willis Towers Watson reported.”Even more, lots of jobs at utility companies are extremely physically demanding, and the defined benefit plans might bring retirement to a more appropriate time.”

Well, who would’ve guessed that utility companies would be on this list?

Protective service

Over half (58%) of workers that activate in the protective service are fully eligible of getting a traditional pension plan. In fact, as Elizabeth Kennedy, associate professor of law and social responsibility at Loyola University in Maryland explained, police officers and firefighters are the most likely to have any kind of access to a traditionally defined benefit pension plan.

In fact, police officers and detectives alike earn an average of $67,290 per year, which is way more than the $52,500 median salary firefighters get.

Lots of protective service jobs have tough and rigorous physical qualifications that are required to perform this kind of job. The pension plans are provided to those former employees who might not be able to meet these physical requirements that are demanded by the job.

Insurance

The BLS reports show that no less than 41% of workers in the insurance industry have full access to a traditional pension plan. “The kind of employees that they have are much more experienced and more likely to appreciate and get the whole concept of the defined benefit plan.” as Royce Kosoff, managing director for retirement at Willis Towers Watson, explained.

Retirees that have a traditional pension plan are expected to face less risk of investment losses or even running out of money than those former employees that have agreed to a 401(k) account to manage on their own.

Finance

Those who are currently working in the finance industry have a much better understanding of the long-term benefits and what it means to have a defined benefit retirement plan.

Half of these people, who work in credit intermediation jobs, like money lenders and even mortgage and loan brokers, have full access to a traditional pension plan.

The credit intermediation industry might include commercial banks, savings institutions, and even mortgage companies. Those who work at bigger firms with 500 or even more employees are way more likely to have a pension plan than those who work for smaller companies. Did you know that?

Nurse

Nurses that spend their days caring for other people, alongside 41% of registered nurses might be eligible to receive pension payments during their retirement years.

Those who work in hospitals are even more likely to have access to a defined benefit pension. Registered nurses usually earn an average of $75,330 a year.

However, the need for nurses is likely to grow, as the baby boomer population is aging, and they require more medical services than before. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects to see a 9% increase in nursing jobs by the end of 2030.

Transportation

As much as a third of private sector transportation and warehousing employees are fully eligible to participate in a traditional pension plan.

“When it comes to the private sector, the only industries where new employees have meaningful access to various traditional pension plans are the ones with high union density, like transportation, construction, manufacturing, and even maintenance.” as Kennedy explained.

Depending on the employer you’ve got, some drivers or groups of workers at airlines, for example, might be eligible to apply for a pension plan, even if many of those plans have been frozen or even closed to new employees.

Military

Service members that are on active duty or who are currently in the reserves or even guard for a specific amount of time (which usually refers to a minimum of 20 years) are able to qualify for payments during their retirement years.

The military uses all kinds f methods of calculating retirement payments, but usually, those who serve the most will get generous amounts of payment in retirement.

Military pensions are usually adjusted to keep up with inflation every single year, and retirees might choose to participate in a survivor benefit plan that will offer annuity payments to surviving family members.

Unions

A union card could be your only ticket to a better retirement benefit. Some 79% of union members have full access to a defined benefit pension plan, in comparison with 17% of nonunion employees, as BLS data shows.

“The unionized workforce might include a range of jobs and occupations, out of which many look different from those that are historically organized by their union.”

As he added, the United Steelworkers Union is representing over 850,000 workers across a wide range of industries and jobs, from sheet metal fabrication to health care and forestry to pharmaceuticals. Unions usually negotiate for the best retirement benefits on behalf of their own members.

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