Teachers' Knowledge and Preparedness for Retirement: Results from a Nationally Representative Teacher Survey

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Dillon Fuchsman, University of Missouri - Kansas City; Josh McGee, University of Arkansas; Gema Zamarro, University of Arkansas

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
01_prep_retirement_knowledge_data.do text/plain 24.3 KB 02/29/2024 12:59:PM
02_retirement_knowledge_analyses.do text/plain 5.1 KB 02/29/2024 10:00:AM
READ ME.docx application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document 13 KB 02/29/2024 06:11:AM
nces.dta application/x-stata-dta 849.4 KB 02/29/2024 10:00:AM
plan_parameters.dta application/x-stata-dta 1.6 MB 10/21/2021 07:51:AM
social_security.dta application/x-stata-dta 19.6 KB 02/29/2024 12:59:PM

Project Citation: 

Fuchsman, Dillon, McGee, Josh, and Zamarro, Gema. Teachers’ Knowledge and Preparedness for Retirement: Results from a Nationally Representative Teacher Survey. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2024-02-29. https://doi.org/10.3886/E198749V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary Adequately preparing for retirement requires planning and knowledge about available savings and investment options. Teachers participate in a complex set of plan designs, and many do not participate in Social Security. While teachers represent a large part of the public workforce, relatively little is known regarding their knowledge and preparation for retirement. We administered a survey to a nationally representative sample of teachers through RAND’s American Teacher Panel and asked teachers about their retirement planning and employer-sponsored retirement plans. We find that while most teachers are taking steps to prepare for retirement, many teachers do not currently possess the basic retirement knowledge necessary to plan effectively. Teachers struggled to identify their plan type, how much they contribute to their plans, retirement eligibility ages, and who contributes to Social Security. These results suggest that better education around teacher retirement plans has the potential to improve teachers’ retirement planning and preparation.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms teacher pensions; retirement knowledge; retirement planning
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage USA
Collection Date(s):  View help for Collection Date(s) 2/10/2020 – 3/16/2020

Methodology

Response Rate:  View help for Response Rate 55%
Data Source:  View help for Data Source Primary data collection by survey.
Unit(s) of Observation:  View help for Unit(s) of Observation Teachers

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Published Versions

V1 [2024-02-29]

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