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@ISIDEWITHQuestionsEconomyStarted 13yrs agoActive 2yrs ago

Should pension plans for federal, state, and local government workers be transitioned into privately managed accounts?

The average retired federal employee receives a pension (retirement plan) of $32,824 annually. Total unfunded pension liability for all U.S. cities and counties is an estimated $574 billion. In addition to their pensions, federal employees are offered a 401(k) plus 5% matching, whereas the average private employee is offered 3 percent matching of 401(k) without pension.

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Answer Overview

Response rates from 264k America voters.

51%
Yes
49%
No
42%
Yes
44%
No
5%
Yes, pension spending is out of control and must be reduced
5%
No, privately managed accounts will jeopardize the financial security of senior citizens
4%
Yes, but only for future workers

Historical Support

Trend of support over time for each answer from 264k America voters.

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Historical Importance

Trend of how important this issue is for 264k America voters.

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from America voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @cryingleftist from Texas  answered…6yrs6Y

It should be up to the worker in question whether they'd like to or not.

 @52P5M5Sanswered…6yrs6Y

I think it should the be workers choice but give incentives for private accounts and insure that the worker will not lose any money if they choose to privatizetheir pension plan.

 @8GPQNKC from New Mexico  answered…6yrs6Y

That should be up to the government worker

 @9KL2GQ3from Vermont  answered…2yrs2Y

Pension plan should be public, however I am not oppose to private pension plan on top of it, as long as there is a public pension plan that can pay enogh for the elderly people to live well

 @9DD9SCM from Oklahoma  answered…3yrs3Y

Have no real idea on this one

 @8GY6QN3 from Illinois  answered…6yrs6Y

Yes because government employees should have to budget for their future like everyone else does.

 @975GXH8 from North Carolina  answered…4yrs4Y

If the government worker wants the plan to be transitioned to a private account that should be allowed.

 @7Z65922 from Georgia  answered…6yrs6Y

No, but I think it should be the workers' choice, therefore give incentives for private accounts and insure that the worker will not lose any money if they chooses to privatize their pension plan

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…2yrs2Y

Elizabeth Warren Walks Back Murder Comments

Congressional Democrats broadly denounced the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Friday morning, after Republicans started accusing Sen. Elizabeth Warren of excusing violence.“No one's condoning this,” said Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.). “Violence never is the right answer for anything. And it was a horrible murder, a tragic loss for his family.” Warren this week condemned the shooting, but added that people “can be pushed only so far.”"We'll say it over and over," Warren said on MSNBC’S “The ReidOut.” " Violence is never the answer. This guy [Luigi Mangione] gets a trial who's allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth, but you can only push people so far, and then they start to take matters into their own hands."In a statement to POLITICO, Warren said, “Violence is never the answer. Period. I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.” Top Republicans denounced Warren's comments and the walked-back rhetoric, with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) calling it “inappropriate and dangerous.”Some House Democrats asked about the incident on Thursday pivoted the conversation to discuss policy options on health care or gun safety.“I don't really know that this is really a space that Congress normally weighs in on,” said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). “But at the end of the day, I think it’s an opportunity, because now people are talking about health care and to talk about the fact that this industry has honestly not been as helpful as it could be.”“Violence is never the answer,” said Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.). “We know that there are people suffering, there’s great challenges in healthcare. There's great challenges, and people have, in fact, been wronged, but a process of governance is the way to address that, not violence.”And Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) who denounced the murder, said the killer should be prosecuted and that “I do know that allegedly a ghost gun was used, and we should also ban ghost guns. There's no reason for them beyond the streets.”

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About This Data

Based on 264k responses to this question.

These results come from iSideWith's ongoing political issues survey. We collect over a million responses per day, filter out duplicate and multiple submissions, and break the results down by political party, ideology, age, state, and census demographics (income, race, education, household).

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iSideWith. (2026). “Should pension plans for federal, state, and local government workers be transitioned into privately managed accounts?” — Public Opinion Poll Results. Retrieved June 26, 2026, from https://www.isidewith.com/polls/315815014

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