The initiative examines federal and state policy efforts to increase retirement plan coverage; studies the feasibility of policies or market practices to help improve retirees’ financial choices and decisions; and works to identify large segments of the contingent workforce that are most likely to want and need an effective retirement savings program.
The project strives to foster policy debate and action on how best to ensure that everyone can save a sufficient amount for retirement.
Among the American workers who struggle most to save for retirement are those in nontraditional jobs, such as the self-employed, sole proprietors, gig workers, and contract workers. Several people with these jobs and a range of policy, business, and financial experts recently took part in a Nontraditional Workers and Retirement Policy Summit to better understand the problems and talk about potential steps to address them.
The Pew Charitable Trusts expressed support today for legislation newly unveiled in the Pennsylvania state House, saying the measure would help approximately 2 million Pennsylvanians secure a stronger financial future.
On Oct. 28, John Scott, director of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ retirement savings project, testified at a U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing, “A Financially Secure Future: Building a Stronger Retirement System for All Americans.”
Most retirement savings are accumulated through workplace plans. Of those savings, more are held in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) than in 401(k)s and other defined contribution accounts, primarily because workers tend to “roll over” their workplace savings into an IRA when they retire or change jobs.
After all the hard work and child rearing, do Americans get to finally relax and retire with some financial stability? Research shows the golden age of retirement doesn’t always shine.
