10 Jobs With The Worst Retirement Benefits

Plenty of Americans experience a carefree early childhood that's filled with play days, some learning peppered in through the first years of education, and a growing curiosity about the world. That desire to understand things quickly develops into burning personal love for specific hobbies, interests, and projects.

Many people seek to turn these interest areas into a career, but whether you are pursuing your dreams as a hobbyist, spectator, or professional participant, there's often far more to explore than just the basic structure of a job in any particular field. Working in education, for instance, is a truly rewarding endeavor, but a degree in education is one of the least likely to pay off financially, even if this avenue feeds your personal desires more fully. Other career paths may be highly likely to offer an excellent salary, but demand a massive time commitment or require significant educational hurdles that can lead to burnout even before you accept your first job offer.

Another important thing to consider is the groundwork you'll lay for retirement. Every worker in America needs to think about funding their retirement, especially since Social Security only replaces around 40% of your pre-retirement income. Some companies may offer 401(k) matches and other perks, while other careers provide little to no additional support. Thinking about your retirement ahead of your entry into the workforce might seem like overkill, but if you're working in one of these fields now or plan to in the future, you'll want to get started since typical benefits are slim pickings within these industries.

A great starting point, workers in the food service industry are generally part of the gig economy or ply their trade as part time employees. On the whole, workers who enjoy a full-time arrangement with their employer are positioned better when it comes to adding in retirement benefits. Employees in the food services sector are more likely to be short-term in their job, and average weekly hours here stand at 27. Only about 30% of workplaces in this area offer health care benefits, and 26% add in retirement plans for their employees.

As a general feature of the industry rather than a quirk, employees working in all aspects of food preparation and service can expect to see their employment arrangement feel unsettled. Movement in the industry isn't surprising with workers hopping around frequently – sometimes as often as monthly when conditions are right (or wrong). Company loyalty isn't really a thing that exists in the modern job market any longer, and within the culinary world, things can often be even bleaker. Profit margins are often razor thin here, and both small operations and chain restaurants have struggled significantly in recent years particularly. All this leads to an employment arena in which workers will frequently need to take care of their own retirement planning.

Personal grooming is an area with plenty of opportunities, but it's not one that offers a particularly strong path to retirement. A barber features as one of the worst career options out there in terms of pure retirement benefits. Early retirement is often off the table for barbers, and the demanding nature of the work itself may serve as an impetus for seeking this early exit. The hits keep coming for those choosing to work in this profession, because barbers often operate as their own boss, adding significantly to the responsibilities on their plates.

Barbers can find employment in a standard mutual contract with a shop, but many rent a chair or even invest in a shop of their own instead. This makes a worker in the industry fairly likely to require some additional business acumen beyond their skill with a pair of scissors. Anyone working within this environment should therefore take a bit of extra time to consider their retirement savings goals alongside strategies that will help achieve those targets. Additional tax reduction strategies can also play a major role in a barber's financial balance, helping to keep the books in order and limit expenses to provide for the hear and now, as well as retirement in the future.

Working with your hands can provide a real boost to your overall mental health (including memory improvements, anxiety reduction, and emotional stability). The satisfaction of finishing a task that you've built, installed, or fixed, just hits home a little differently than work with less concrete feedback. Sure, sending off a report you've worked on all week can feel uplifting, but there's something uniquely rewarding about installing something new and stepping back to admire the physical fruits of your labor. The equivalent doesn't exist in the digital world, even if many products you might lend your expertise to demand real and important knowledge and skill.

Unfortunately, many of the careers that exist in the modern world exhibit weakened financial benefits, pushing many away from their career tracks. Those working in installation and maintenance arenas feel the pressure, in particular. These workers earned an average salary hovering just under $60,000 in 2022 – just a hair under average U.S. salaries for the year across all sectors. However, retirement benefits are scarce for installers and maintenance workers. Estimates place employer contributions to retirement benefits at just $1.58 per hour for workers in these fields.

Members of the cloth are some of the most calling-driven workers across the entire job market. Those who serve their communities in the form of preaching (regardless of the faith the work might align with) are doing it because they're passionate about the message and morals of their religion, and not for the money. With that being said, many clergy members find that the benefits built into the job help provide enough for them to live comfortably in the present. Many priests and other preachers have their housing costs and transportation needs provided for them or heavily subsidized. Typical wages for clergy members in the U.S. are roughly in line with that of other professions, too. This means that religious figures generally have plenty of room in their personal budgets to save for retirement on their own.

Saving for retirement is certainly something that the clergy will have to do, as well. In many instances, members of the clergy don't have hard, transferrable skills that can help them land a job outside of the church. They also won't have much in the way of definitive retirement benefits headed their way as they perform their pastoral duties. Even so, during their careers, clergy members are granted access to some of the most important employee benefits that people seek out, such as health care coverage and sick leave policies.

Returning to a realm of self-employment, gig work, and freelance relationships, people working in real estate and leasing management roles often find themselves behind the eight ball in terms of employer-led retirement benefits. In raw numbers, employer contribution figures per hour work out to just $0.73 in integrated retirement benefits. This means that people working in this sector are particularly vulnerable when it comes to their retirement. On the flip side, wages for workers in the real estate sector can be highly lucrative in the present. Luxury agents can rake in well over $100,000 per year, nearly doubling the average salary for American workers across industrial lines in typical earnings.

The work culture for a real estate agent and others in this segment is a little different from most. Plenty of Americans will be seeking a steady nine-to-five work week with a decent salary and a healthy blend of benefits and work-life balance. The real estate world doesn't always work like that. This is a "keep what you kill" sort of environment, and much of the earnings that real estate pros bring home stem from commissions. The more real estate transactions you close, the more you earn. Plenty of people in this industry make huge money, but they do it by sacrificing some or even much of the time they might otherwise spend relaxing. The trade can be immensely rewarding, but it's one that anyone considering a career in this field will want to think hard about.

Support staff form a key component in most large business efforts. Support workers run the gamut from secretarial professionals to other crucial office management employees like assistants, receptionists, and the do-it-all office manager. These workers keep the ship on course and solve problems that may arise through the routine course of business in just about any scenario.

However, administrative staff members frequently don't enjoy significant retirement-related job benefits. Average retirement plan benefits come out to around 3.3% of compensation for workers in these roles, placing them near the very bottom of the scale. Average salaries are also scaled down to a certain degree, with a mean figure standing slightly below $48,000. With all this in mind, there are some important caveats that may change the picture dramatically. Depending on the industry (and individual companies within market sectors, for that matter), salaries and benefits can see substantial boosts. High tech fields may offer much a much better benefits package, while other industries potential offer even lower total compensation. These jobs are also available across market sectors, often without specialized knowledge playing a role. 

This means that a secretary for one company is likely qualified for similar jobs in all corners of the job market. Similarly, workers in this field get to rub elbows with other employees that might work in fields that really interest them. It can be a way in if you're studying for a career change, offering the ability to make connections and grow your hands on knowledge of the field.

Pest control is another job area that's absolutely essential in the modern world. People all across the country deal with bugs, rodents, and other nuisances on a regular basis, and plenty of residents simply don't have the expertise, equipment, or time necessary to deal with these pest finds on their own. Calling on the support of a pro is crucial in many instances, but pest control specialists don't get the full credit they often deserve. While homeowners are quick to thank their pest controller at the end of a job, the money and retirement benefits don't always follow with the same level of gratitude.

Part of the problem for pest controllers stems from the lack of scalability in this line of work. Workers who perform service calls in other industries often have the ability to tackle additional certifications, grow their base of expertise, or even make a trade change with relative ease. Pest control specialists work in a labor-intensive field that doesn't lend itself well to translatability, and there's no real ladder to climb here, either. With an average salary of roughly $42,000, pest control technicians don't really rake in the cash, and they may also find themselves working in a freelance or gig arrangement with a larger brand (or working as a solo outfit), making corporate retirement benefits a rarity, too.

When thinking of the health care industry, many people envision doctors. Doctors tend to make significant money, after committing themselves to a lengthy educational pathway that often includes unpaid internships, low-paying residency stints, and other difficult sacrifices to unlock this high earning ceiling. Becoming a doctor isn't for everyone, and the barriers in place make it hard for even the most educationally-minded people to gain acceptance and follow through on their pursuit.

Beyond that, the vast majority of professionals in the health care landscape across America aren't doctors, but rather practice medicine as nurses, social assistance staff, care home employees, and even lab technicians. A whole ecosystem of support staff exists alongside the doctors who stand in the limelight, and they often perform the bulk of medical care work for people who visit their provider for a checkup or need emergency medical care at a hospital. Registered Nurses still make solid money, taking home an average of nearly $88,000 (well above the overall mean figure). But retirement benefits can be hard to come by in this profession, meaning a notable percentage of that salary heft will need to be socked away for retirement in order to make those later years comfortable.

The retail marketplace is a massive one in the United States. Whether in the fashion space or revolving around groceries that consumers routinely head to the store to buy in enormous volume, people across the country rely on retail staff to keep shelves stocked and to facilitate the purchase of goods on a daily basis. Unfortunately for retail workers, they are some of the least-compensated employees across the spectrum when it comes to integrated retirement benefit contributions (estimating a per-hour contribution from employers at just $0.48).

Staff in these fields work in an unskilled labor market, and retail jobs are frequently the first role that young people seek when breaking into the job market as teenagers (although people from all walks of life work in these kinds of positions). As a result of the vast labor pool that retail stores have to pull from in their local areas, wages are often quite low when compared to other industries, and retirement benefits are slim or nonexistent from many companies in the sector.

Wholesale traders exist in a middle-ground arena that often goes unnoticed. Generally speaking, when you head into your local grocery chain, you won't be picking fruits, meats, or bread products off the shelf direct from the manufacturer (or farmer). These products make it to the retail shelf at the end of a sometimes long and often complicated supply chain. This is especially true for high-demand items that may be sourced from hundreds of unique starting points before being aggregated and sent to stores. No matter the product, there's a decent chance that a wholesaler was involved in sourcing it from the manufacturing point and facilitating its arrival in a retailer's warehouse before it gets sent out to a store from end user distribution. 

Produce, for instance, is grown on countless farms across the country. Many fruits and vegetables are sourced from numerous foreign countries, too, adding to the logistical difficulties even more. Wholesale trade professionals facilitate the exchange of goods from producer to seller, and they are a key cog in this cycle. However, companies working in this sector are frequently underperformers when it comes to defined benefit plan structures for employees. Only about 10% of companies offer a benefit plan for retirement while 67% offer contribution options for their employees. The contribution per hour figure works out to $1.31 for employee retirement benefits.