Retirement is not about the proverbial gold watch any more. Today, our focus is on retirement security, and the newly created National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) is adding to the dialogue. The NIRS was established in in 2007 by the Council of Institutional Investors (CII), the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA), and the National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR).

Their goal was to create an organization "dedicated to fostering a deep understanding of the traditional pension system in the U.S.", and they’re off to a quick start. The NIRS has just launched their new website, nirsonline.org, and issued their first Research Brief, Retirement Readiness: What Difference Does A Pension Make?

The Brief written by Beth Almeida, NIRS’ first Executive Director, 

… reviews the evidence on the role DB pensions play in ensuring that older Americans have the resources they need to be self-sufficient in retirement. It examines recent trends in pension coverage and discusses the effect these trends have had on the state of retirement readiness among American workers. Finally, it points in the direction of areas worthy of exploration for policymakers seeking to address specific retirement security goals.

You can download the Brief here (PDF).