With more than 42 million Americans participating in corporate pensions today, a Fidelity Investments® survey of corporate pension plan participants has found a widespread lack of awareness about how those plans work. Seventy one percent of those surveyed do not have detailed knowledge of how their pension plans operate, yet more than half said they are counting on those pensions to help pay for living expenses in retirement.

Fidelity, service provider to more than 4 million corporate pension plan participants, examined the attitudes and behaviors of more than 500 corporate employees who participate in employer-sponsored pension plans nationwide. Nearly one-third (31 percent) of those surveyed said they don’t know their plan’s vesting schedule, 40 percent don’t know what their payment options will be upon retirement or when leaving their company and about one-quarter (27 percent) don’t know at what age they can begin to receive payments.

“Corporate pension plans remain a critical component of retirement income for millions of Americans,” said Wendy Foster, Senior Vice President in Fidelity’s defined benefit business. ”Our research highlights an opportunity for companies to better educate their employees about the value of employer-sponsored pension plans. Fidelity offers a broad range of guidance, both on its participant website NetBenefits® and on the phone with representatives, to help workers understand and manage their pension plans and decide how these assets fit into their overall retirement strategy.”

The majority of those surveyed (61 percent) said they have never inquired about how much money they will receive upon retirement. When asked to explain their passive approach to determining the monetary value of their pensions, 43 percent said they rely on their employer to provide the information when necessary and more than one in four (29 percent) said they lack knowledge about the plan and/or they do not know whom to ask for information.