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The differences between retirement plan specialists and specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a retirement plan specialist, becoming a specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a retirement plan specialist has an average salary of $60,611, which is higher than the $58,013 average annual salary of a specialist.
The top three skills for a retirement plan specialist include life insurance, financial products and FINRA. The most important skills for a specialist are patients, customer service, and work ethic.
| Retirement Plan Specialist | Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $60,611 | $58,013 |
| Hourly rate | $29.14 | $27.89 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 9,336 | 358,433 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 45 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
Retirement plan specialists are experts who plan out their client's financial needs for retirement. The specialist's design and implement savings, benefit, and pension programs for clients. They have to explain the complicated nature of compensation, investment, and retirement packages to employees clearly and concisely. They process retirement plans following company and federal regulations. Also, they often have a background in business or human resources, and they may choose to earn employee benefit certifications that may help with their career advancement.
Specialists are employees who are responsible for specific tasks or activities in the department they are assigned to. The actions or tasks they work on are related to their educational background or work experiences. They are usually highly skilled in specializations related to the work they are assigned to. Specialists are also highly trained on the competencies that are required of their specialty. As such, they are focused on the skills and competencies that are needed to enhance their experience in their specific field further.
Retirement plan specialists and specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Retirement Plan Specialist | Specialist | |
| Average salary | $60,611 | $58,013 |
| Salary range | Between $41,000 And $88,000 | Between $32,000 And $104,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | - | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | - | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a retirement plan specialist and a specialist in terms of educational background:
| Retirement Plan Specialist | Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 76% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between retirement plan specialists' and specialists' demographics:
| Retirement Plan Specialist | Specialist | |
| Average age | 45 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.4% Female, 45.6% | Male, 47.5% Female, 52.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.2% Asian, 7.8% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 11% |