U.S. Social Security Administration, Office of Policy.
Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2004
 

Importance of Income Sources Relative to Total Income

All Units

Aged Units

Units 65 or Older

Relative Importance of Income Sources for Aged Units
Table 6.A1
Percentage distribution, by age, 2004
Proportion of income Aged 55–61 Aged 62–64 Aged 65 or older
Total 65–74 75 or older
Retirement benefits a
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 74 40 6 8 4
1–19 b 6 11 4 7 2
20–39 5 9 8 11 5
40–59 4 8 9 11 7
60–79 3 6 11 11 11
80 or more 9 25 62 51 72
50 or more 13 35 78 68 87
90 or more 8 22 54 44 63
100 5 13 30 23 35
Mean proportion 14 37 75 67 83
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
Social Security c
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 87 52 9 11 6
1–19 b 3 13 9 13 5
20–39 3 10 15 18 11
40–59 2 7 16 17 15
60–79 1 4 14 12 16
80 or more 4 14 38 29 46
50 or more 7 21 60 49 70
90 or more 4 12 31 24 38
100 3 9 20 15 24
Mean proportion 7 24 60 52 67
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
Government employee pensions d
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 93 89 86 86 87
1–19 b 2 2 2 3 2
20–39 2 3 3 4 3
40–59 1 2 4 4 4
60–79 1 1 2 2 3
80 or more 1 2 2 2 2
50 or more 3 4 6 6 6
90 or more 1 1 1 1 1
100 0 1 0 0 0
Mean proportion 3 5 6 6 6
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 90 80 70 71 69
1–19 b 4 9 12 11 13
20–39 2 4 10 9 10
40–59 1 4 6 6 6
60–79 1 2 2 2 2
80 or more 2 2 1 1 1
50 or more 3 5 4 5 4
90 or more 1 1 0 1 0
100 1 1 0 0 0
Mean proportion 4 7 9 9 9
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
Earnings
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 16 34 76 63 89
1–19 b 2 4 5 7 3
20–39 3 5 4 6 2
40–59 5 7 5 8 2
60–79 8 10 5 8 2
80 or more 65 40 5 8 2
50 or more 77 54 12 21 4
90 or more 58 33 3 6 1
100 22 11 2 2 1
Mean proportion 73 51 12 20 5
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
Income from assets
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 41 40 44 42 45
1–19 b 52 50 43 45 41
20–39 3 5 7 7 7
40–59 2 3 3 3 3
60–79 1 1 2 1 2
80 or more 2 2 1 1 2
50 or more 3 4 4 4 5
90 or more 2 2 1 1 1
100 1 1 1 1 1
Mean proportion 6 7 8 8 8
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
Public assistance
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 95 95 95 95 96
1–19 b 1 1 1 2 1
20–39 1 1 1 1 1
40–59 1 1 1 1 0
60–79 0 0 0 0 0
80 or more 2 2 1 2 1
50 or more 3 2 2 2 2
90 or more 2 2 1 1 1
100 2 1 1 1 1
Mean proportion 3 3 2 2 2
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
NOTE: Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
a. Includes Social Security benefits, Railroad Retirement, government employee pensions, and private pensions or annuities.
b. Includes units with at least $1 but less than 1 percent of income from the specified source.
c. Includes retired-worker benefits, dependents' or survivors' benefits, disability benefits, transitionally insured benefits, and special age-72 benefits.
d. Includes federal, state, local, and military pensions.
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Relative Importance of Income Sources for Units 65 or Older
Table 6.A2
Percentage distribution, by quintiles of total money income, 2004
Proportion of income Total First Second Third Fourth Fifth
Retirement benefits a
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 6 13 2 3 5 8
1–19 b 4 1 0 1 2 17
20–39 8 1 2 4 9 22
40–59 9 3 4 9 13 15
60–79 11 6 8 12 17 12
80 or more 62 76 84 71 54 26
50 or more 78 85 94 88 78 45
90 or more 54 71 77 62 44 19
100 30 55 49 29 15 4
Mean proportion 75 81 90 83 74 49
Number (thousands) 25,891 4,520 5,443 5,318 5,297 5,312
Social Security c
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 9 15 4 5 8 12
1–19 b 9 1 1 2 5 35
20–39 15 1 3 8 22 37
40–59 16 4 7 22 33 13
60–79 14 7 14 24 23 2
80 or more 38 72 72 38 10 1
50 or more 60 81 90 76 48 7
90 or more 31 65 61 28 5 1
100 20 50 37 12 1 1
Mean proportion 60 78 84 67 48 24
Number (thousands) 25,891 4,520 5,443 5,318 5,297 5,312
Government employee pensions d
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 86 99 96 88 80 71
1–19 b 2 0 1 2 3 6
20–39 3 0 1 3 5 7
40–59 4 0 1 3 6 8
60–79 2 0 1 2 4 5
80 or more 2 0 1 2 2 3
50 or more 6 1 2 6 10 11
90 or more 1 0 0 1 1 1
100 0 0 0 1 0 0
Mean proportion 6 1 2 6 10 13
Number (thousands) 25,891 4,520 5,443 5,318 5,297 5,312
Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 70 93 81 64 54 61
1–19 b 12 3 11 14 15 16
20–39 10 1 5 13 17 11
40–59 6 1 2 7 11 8
60–79 2 1 1 1 3 4
80 or more 1 1 0 1 0 1
50 or more 4 2 1 3 7 8
90 or more 0 1 0 0 0 0
100 0 1 0 0 0 0
Mean proportion 9 3 4 10 14 12
Number (thousands) 25,891 4,520 5,443 5,318 5,297 5,312
Earnings
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 76 96 94 84 68 42
1–19 b 5 1 2 5 7 10
20–39 4 1 1 4 7 7
40–59 5 0 1 4 8 12
60–79 5 0 1 2 6 15
80 or more 5 1 1 2 5 14
50 or more 12 2 2 6 15 36
90 or more 3 1 1 2 4 8
100 2 1 1 1 2 2
Mean proportion 12 2 3 7 15 33
Number (thousands) 25,891 4,520 5,443 5,318 5,297 5,312
Income from assets
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 44 75 59 43 29 17
1–19 b 43 18 35 46 56 55
20–39 7 2 4 7 11 11
40–59 3 1 1 2 3 7
60–79 2 0 0 1 1 6
80 or more 1 4 0 0 0 3
50 or more 4 4 1 2 3 12
90 or more 1 3 0 0 0 0
100 1 3 0 0 0 0
Mean proportion 8 5 4 6 8 16
Number (thousands) 25,891 4,520 5,443 5,318 5,297 5,312
NOTES: Quintile limits are $10,399, $16,363, $25,587, and $44,129 for aged units.
Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
a. Includes Social Security benefits, Railroad Retirement, government employee pensions, and private pensions or annuities.
b. Includes units with at least $1 but less than 1 percent of income from the specified source.
c. Includes retired-worker benefits, dependents' or survivors' benefits, disability benefits, transitionally insured benefits, and special age-72 benefits.
d. Includes federal, state, local, and military pensions.
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