Why Retirement

Security Matters

The good news: Americans are living longer.

The bad news: as a result, financial security through retirement presents a major challenge for our country. More than two-thirds of Americans say the nation faces a retirement crisis.

Protecting Every Future is empowering advocates to join the conversation and support policies that help more American families prepare for retirement. We applaud proposals in Washington that increase American’s access to retirement security by:

• Expanding access to opportunities for retirement savings
• Helping Americans plan for lifetime income in retirement
• Creating more savings choices for employers and workers

WHAT IS THE SECURE ACT?

The bipartisan Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE 1.0) was signed into law in 2019. It was a major win that helped more people get started on retirement savings to build their financial security by:

Making it easier to access guaranteed income for life with annuities 

Offering small business employees better opportunities to save for retirement through their employer

Protecting the benefits of four million pension holders

Eliminating taxation of survivor benefits of Gold Star families

SECURE 1.0 was a strong start. Now it is time to build on a retirement system that works and has the potential to create more financial security for Americans.

WHO BENEFITS FROM UPDATED RETIREMENT SECURITY? 

Proposals in Washington, including the Securing a Strong Retirement Act (SSRA) and the Retirement Security and Savings Act (RSSA), as well as other policy initiatives, offer even more improvements to financial security through retirement for the following groups:

Those Closest to Retirement

Updated policy would increase the required minimum distribution age from 72 to 75 years of age, allowing workers more time for savings.

Student Loan Borrowers

Updated policy would allow employers to make contributions to an employee’s 401(k) that match the employee’s student loan repayments.

Military Spouses

Updated policy would help small employers offer retirement plan options to military spouses who often have short-term employment due to military assignments.

Part-Time Workers

Updated policy would decrease the current requirement of time working for an employer from 500 hours part-time to two consecutive years for eligibility in their employer’s 401(k) plan.