Pension wealth at midlife: Comparing self-reports with provider data

This paper evaluates the accuracy of estimates of pension wealth based on s elf-reports by comparing them to estimates based on provider data. Using da ta from the Health and Retirement Study. we found that few workers are well informed about their future pension benefits. Self-reports were often inco mplete and typically varied widely from those based on information from pro viders. In defined benefit (DB) plans, discrepancies were greatest for work ers who had limited education, earned low wages, and did not expect to reti re soon. Differences in median pension wealth were smaller at the aggregate level than the individual level, because individual differences tended to offset each other when aggregated. Provider data appear better than self-re ports for DB plans, but not for defined contribution (DC) plans. Where both are available, the best method of computing pension wealth may be to estim ate DB wealth from provider data and to estimate DC wealth from self-report s.