This Sunday’s Super Bowl 50 match-up between our hometown Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos is the talk of the town.  But what happens after the Super Bowl?  Potentially way after the game when a professional football player retires?

It turns out the National Football League has a rather generous pension plan.  The NFL is one of the rare 7% of American companies that offers traditional pensions to new hires.  That figure is way down from the 62% level seen in 1979.

Only a few years ago the NFL had the worst funded plan of the four major sport leagues, reaching a low 49% of assets on hand to fund future benefits.  Their funding ratio has made a dramatic recovery since then to 72% and NFL owners have committed to 100% funding by 2021.

The NFL pension plan has $1.8 billion in assets with 4,200 retirees and 2,100 active players.  Players qualify after 3 seasons and are eligible to draw benefits starting at age 55.  An 18-year veteran like Peyton Manning would receive an estimated annual pension $107,040 compared to a 3-year, short-timer’s check of $21,360.

Although most corporations have done away with pensions and shifted the risk and responsibility of saving for retirement to their employees, the NFL’s program is strongly in place thanks to the community of active and retired sportsmen.  NFL retirees do a great job of communicating the great benefit of the pension to the younger, active players which carries through to the players’ collective bargaining.

Source: WSJ