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The differences between benefits representatives and retirement specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a benefits representative and a retirement specialist. Additionally, a retirement specialist has an average salary of $40,474, which is higher than the $38,694 average annual salary of a benefits representative.
The top three skills for a benefits representative include customer service, patients and insurance coverage. The most important skills for a retirement specialist are life insurance, HR, and recordkeeping.
| Benefits Representative | Retirement Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $38,694 | $40,474 |
| Hourly rate | $18.60 | $19.46 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 7% |
| Number of jobs | 13,058 | 24,916 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A benefits representative is responsible for facilitating and disseminating information about benefits programs and policies across all employees in the company. Benefits representatives respond to the employees' inquiries and concerns of benefits processes, update their benefits information, and resolve discrepancies and disputes. They also support the company's initiatives on developing new benefits plans, implementing campaigns, as well as writing application guides for reference. A benefits representative should have excellent communication and organizational skills as they also conduct surveys to check the efficiency and effectiveness of the benefits programs and adjusting procedures as needed.
A retirement specialist is responsible for designing and implementing retirement packages such as benefits, savings, profit sharing, and pensions to the employees of a certain company. They work together with the human resource department to ensure that all retirees can access their benefits and pensions. Their duties and responsibilities include explaining the different retirement packages to the potential beneficiaries and working with HR to resolve any issues.
Benefits representatives and retirement specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Benefits Representative | Retirement Specialist | |
| Average salary | $38,694 | $40,474 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $51,000 | Between $29,000 And $56,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Newark, NJ |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | BlackRock | Amgen |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a benefits representative and a retirement specialist in terms of educational background:
| Benefits Representative | Retirement Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between benefits representatives' and retirement specialists' demographics:
| Benefits Representative | Retirement Specialist | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 30.3% Female, 69.7% | Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 7.0% White, 61.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 7.7% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |