Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between retirement specialists and retirement plan 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 retirement specialist and a retirement plan specialist. Additionally, a retirement plan specialist has an average salary of $60,611, 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 retirement plan specialist are life insurance, financial products, and FINRA.
| Retirement Specialist | Retirement Plan Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $40,474 | $60,611 |
| Hourly rate | $19.46 | $29.14 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 7% |
| Number of jobs | 24,916 | 9,336 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
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.
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.
Retirement specialists and retirement plan specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Retirement Specialist | Retirement Plan Specialist | |
| Average salary | $40,474 | $60,611 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $56,000 | Between $41,000 And $88,000 |
| Highest paying City | Newark, NJ | - |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | - |
| Best paying company | Amgen | - |
| Best paying industry | Finance | - |
There are a few differences between a retirement specialist and a retirement plan specialist in terms of educational background:
| Retirement Specialist | Retirement Plan Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between retirement specialists' and retirement plan specialists' demographics:
| Retirement Specialist | Retirement Plan Specialist | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0% | Male, 54.4% Female, 45.6% |
| 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, 10.5% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.2% Asian, 7.8% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |