ERISA
ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) protects retirement plan participants by requiring plans to provide information about funding, setting minimum vesting standards, requiring fiduciary responsibility, and establishing the PBGC as a pension insurer. ERISA applies ONLY to private sector plans. Government and church plans are exempt. ERISA does not require employers to offer a pension; it only regulates plans that exist.
Example
ERISA requires that your employer's pension plan fully vest you within 5 years (cliff) or 7 years (graded). Before ERISA was enacted in 1974, some plans required 20+ years for vesting, meaning many workers never earned their pension.
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Contractor vs Employee Compensation
Contractors typically need to charge 40-70% more per hour than the equivalent employee hourly rate to achieve comparable take-home pay, because they cover self-employment tax (15.3%), health insurance, retirement, PTO, and business expenses themselves.
Employee Salary Equivalent
An employee salary that matches your contractor income is typically 25-40% lower than your contractor gross, because the employer covers half of FICA taxes, provides benefits, and gives paid time off that you currently fund yourself.
Pension Benefit Estimation
A defined benefit pension pays a guaranteed monthly income for life, calculated as: Years of Service × Final Average Salary × Benefit Multiplier. A typical 2% multiplier over 30 years replaces 60% of your final salary. Only 14% of private sector workers still have access to a pension (2025), but 86% of public sector workers do.