Retirement specialist vs benefits & payroll administrator

The differences between retirement specialists and benefits & payroll administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a retirement specialist and a benefits & payroll administrator. Additionally, a benefits & payroll administrator has an average salary of $50,662, which is higher than the $40,474 average annual salary of a retirement specialist.

The top three skills for a retirement specialist include life insurance, HR and recordkeeping. The most important skills for a benefits & payroll administrator are human resources, HRIS, and cobra.

Retirement specialist vs benefits & payroll administrator overview

	Retirement Specialist	Benefits & Payroll Administrator
Yearly salary	$40,474	$50,662
Hourly rate	$19.46	$24.36
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	24,916	61,356
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	6	6

What does a retirement specialist do?

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.

What does a benefits & payroll administrator do?

The Benefits and Payroll Administrator manages the company's payroll, ensuring work benefits and employee documents are secure. The administrator also delivers employees' issues and concerns to the company's proper channels. This position also helps in the audit of the company and ensures compliance with state and federal regulations. This administrative position requires bookkeeping knowledge, a bachelor's degree, and experience in using spreadsheets and accounting software.

Retirement specialist vs benefits & payroll administrator salary

Retirement specialists and benefits & payroll administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Retirement Specialist	Benefits & Payroll Administrator
Average salary	$40,474	$50,662
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $56,000	Between $37,000 And $68,000
Highest paying City	Newark, NJ	San Jose, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	New Jersey
Best paying company	Amgen	HGA
Best paying industry	Finance	Professional

Differences between retirement specialist and benefits & payroll administrator education

There are a few differences between a retirement specialist and a benefits & payroll administrator in terms of educational background:

	Retirement Specialist	Benefits & Payroll Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 55%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Retirement specialist vs benefits & payroll administrator demographics

Here are the differences between retirement specialists' and benefits & payroll administrators' demographics:

	Retirement Specialist	Benefits & Payroll Administrator
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0%	Male, 11.7% Female, 88.3%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 7.8% White, 62.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between retirement specialist and benefits & payroll administrator duties and responsibilities

Retirement specialist example responsibilities.

Manage and resolve participant escalations and requests from DOL.
Lead major initiatives in 3concurrent roles successfully manage affluent personal and business portfolio to proactively cross-sell additional products and services.
Review social security, Medicare, annuities and tax relate questions.
Process recalculations and payroll for retirees resuming their retirement benefits.
Utilize ASC and SRT recordkeeping systems.
Educate participants, clients and third party facilitators on various ERISA regulations and procedures.

Benefits & payroll administrator example responsibilities.

Manage HRIS, recruiting, training, and time and attendance programs as well as trouble shooting.
Create reports using SQL database and manage reports, perform from internet-base tools for research projects need for client insight.
Ensure accuracy of all benefit enrollments and life status changes record in the HRIS to provide vendors with accurate eligibility information.
Complete weekly internal payroll reports and fund employee accounts (HSA and 401K).
Process benefit elections, merit raises, salary changes, garnishments, cobra and severance.
Administer employee benefits programs including group medical, dental, vision, group life and FSA.

Retirement specialist vs benefits & payroll administrator skills

Common retirement specialist skills

Life Insurance, 11%
HR, 10%
Recordkeeping, 8%
Payroll, 8%
Medicare, 7%
Financial Products, 6%

Common benefits & payroll administrator skills

Human Resources, 6%
HRIS, 6%
Cobra, 6%
Payroll System, 4%
Open Enrollment, 4%
ADP Payroll, 4%

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Retirement Specialist
Retirement Specialist vs Benefits & Payroll Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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