More on American’s Retirement Savings Progress
The subject of the retirement savings habits of Americans seems to be one of the most persistent topics in the financial media these days. For the most part, news accounts focus on perceptions that many (too many, perhaps) are not aggressively building a nest egg sufficient to ensure a comfortable retirement. A post on www.wfmynews2.com provides some additional conjecture on this topic. Check it out here…
The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) has reacted to this savings deficit sentiment by including a specific provision in it’s proposal to resolve Social Security’s solvency problem. Labeled “Social Security Plus,” the provision is envisioned as an addition to traditional Social Security that would enable workers to accumulate additional retirement funds and have access to these funds at age 62, the current early retirement age.
Specifics include employees as owners of the funds; no taxation to employee on growth or receipt of funds; no required withdrawals (like Roth IRA); employer contributions are tax deductible; employee contributions are after tax; employer contributions may be stopped or started at any time. AMAC suggests 20% of funds be invested in guaranteed interest accounts or annuities and 80% in any approved investment (i.e. S&P 500 index). Investment choices would be similar to IRAs and 401k plans. Administration costs would be borne by providers offering plans.
Social Security Plus is a part of AMAC’s Social Security Guarantee, a legislative framework developed as a bi-partisan solution to the solvency problem that would preserve the program for generations to come, and that would not necessitate any tax increase. Learn more about this proposal at amac.us/social-security.