Debate rages over the extent of America’s retirement crisis (and if one exists at all), but Senator Susan Collins forged ahead Tuesday with two bills to make “retirement savings plans more accessible to more Americans.”
Collins, R.-Maine, and chairman of the Senate’s Aging Committee, unveiled what she called a multi-part strategy “to close this yawning savings gap and help more Americans prepare for retirement.”
“Over the past four decades, fundamental changes to our retirement system have made it increasingly difficult for Americans to save for their golden years,” Collins, chairman of the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging, claimed. “As a result, there is an estimated $7.7 trillion gap between the savings American households need to maintain their standard of living in retirement and what they actually have.”
Approximately half of households age 55 and older have no retirement savings, she added, and up to two-thirds of workers may not have saved enough to maintain their standard of living in retirement.
“As Chairman of the Senate Aging Committee, ensuring that more Americans are secure financially in their retirement years is one of my highest priorities. This is a crisis that is looming on the horizon. The bipartisan bills I introduced today attempt to strengthen the pillars that make up our retirement system. It is vital that we pass this legislation to ensure that Americans can enjoy a financially secure retirement and not end up retiring in poverty.”
Two bills introduced
In remarks from the Senate floor this afternoon, Senator Collins spoke about the two bipartisan retirement security bills she introduced today.
- The SIMPLE Plan Modernization Act, introduced with Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia), would provide greater flexibility and access to small businesses and their employees seeking to utilize the popular SIMPLE plans as an option for saving for retirement. Their legislation was endorsed by AARP.
- The Retirement Security Act, introduced with Senator Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire), would help small businesses offer retirement plans to their employees and encourage individuals to boost savings for retirement.
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
