A new report from the Center for Effective Government and the Institute for Policy Studies underscores the current state of inequality in the U.S. even in retirement.
The report, titled A Tale of Two Retirements, shows that 100 American CEOs have retirement funds that are worth a combined $4.9 billion, which is equal to the retirement savings of 41 percent of American families. Many Fortune 500 CEOs have company-sponsored pension plans, and special tax-deferred compensation accounts that are exempt from the annual contribution limits imposed on ordinary 401(k)s. On average, CEOs’ nest eggs are worth more than $49.3 million, or $277,686 a month for the rest of their lives.
According to the report, which is based on data from companies’ SEC filings, David Novak, the former CEO and now executive chairman of YUM Brands, which owns Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC, had the largest retirement nest egg with $234 million in his retirement account in 2014. In comparison, hundreds of thousands of workers at Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC have no company retirement assets.
A full copy of the report can be found at http://foreffectivegov.org/files/two-retirements.pdf.