The General Accounting Office examined retirement age trends in the private sector to assist the Congress in its effort to devise a retirement system for Federal employees. The Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS) was identified as a source of information about private sector retirement patterns. March 1974, 1979, and 1984 data were used to identify persons receiving private pension income and their demographic characteristics. Analysis focused on male and female pension recipients aged 50 and older. About half of the individuals who receive private pensions started receiving them by age 62; almost 60 percent started receiving them before reaching 65. Median retirement age was 62. The proportion of people receiving private pension income at ages under 65 increased rapidly between 1973 and 1983. The proportion of all men aged 50 to 64 who received pension income essentially doubled. Women experienced a substantial but smaller increase in pension receipt. About one-third of male private pension recipients aged 50 to 61 were receiving Social Security disability payments, Supplemental Security Income, or Workers' Compensation. (Appendixes include a report with the data and methodology used to derive the results. CPS questionnaires regarding type of benefits received are also provided.) (YLB)