Alert Icon

Medicare Open Enrollment is happening now!

Planning for Retirement

It's never too early to start planning for your financial future; preparation is key to ensuring a successful retirement. This section provides information about your benefit, retirement eligibility and benefit options to help you plan and prepare.

Financial planners often refer to the "three-legged stool" in describing the most common sources of income during retirement. Traditionally, the three legs are Social Security benefits, a defined benefit (DB) pension plan, and supplemental individual savings like a defined contribution (DC) plan.

The First Leg


Social Security, provides guaranteed, cost of living adjusted income for life and is the foundation of most Americans' retirement. However, it was never meant to be the single source of income in retirement

The Second Leg

A defined benefit plan such as your KCPERS pension, will provide a guaranteed monthly income stream for your life, and its unique features make it a good value for the money. The pooled nature of it, where the pension contributions from members are put together in the same pot and the assets are managed professionally, can help achieve "economies of scale" - getting you to a target benefit at about half the cost. Pensions also typically provide other important benefits such as disability protection and survivor benefits.

The Third Leg

The final leg of the stool is individual savings. There are many ways to save for retirement, such as saving through a defined contribution plan. KCPD offers employees the opportunity to participate in a deferred compensation plan. You can find out more about the KCPD's deferred compensation plan here: Kansas City Police Department 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan (kcpddc.com)

Scroll to top