Work pension is set up to provide workers with an income when they are finished working for their employer. This is not to be confused with severance pay, as pensions do not apply to people who are fired or quit a job. There are three main types of pension plans- retirement, social security, and disability. All three types are funded in part by the employee when he/she was collecting a working wage, by the employer during that same time and by the government. Most pensions operate on payment plans, and are usually structured according to how long an employee worked for a company and how much income they earned. Several types of work pension plans are defined contribution plans, such as Individual Retirement Plans (IRAs) and 401k plans. These plans allow workers to put their saved earnings into select investments that usually yield growth over the life of the investment, and offer tax incentives as well. For these plans, often the employer matches the funds the employee puts in, and usually employees are not allowed to touch the funds until they are a set age.