By Teresa Ghilarducci

A new report on retirement security from the Government Accountability Office contains what seems like a stunning finding: 48% of older households have “no retirement savings.” By “no retirement savings,” however, the GAO means only that they have no defined contribution plan, that is, an IRA or 401(k). As the report states in the next couple of lines, some of the 48% have a defined benefit plan (often called a pension). Of Americans nearing retirement, 29% have neither a DB nor a DC plan.

But by not stating clearly the issue about DBs, the new GAO report gave scholars at conservative think tanks an easy opportunity to score a point in the debate between those who do and those who do not think Americans have enough retirement savings. Despite the GAO’s inexact wording, Americans do not have enough retirement savings, even when considering DB plans.

True, if you have a DB benefit with enough years of service, it doesn’t matter so much that you don’t have what the GAO calls “retirement savings” (though even if you have a DB plan you may still need a supplement; some DB income levels are quite low). Everyone has a friend or relative who sacrificed relative wage increases for a generous teacher or union pension that is a lot more secure than someone’s 401(k).

Read more @Forbes