If you were out enjoying the Labor Day weekend, you may have missed President Obama’s weekly radio address (now also a
If you weren’t tuned in, you didn’t hear that the president – clearly unafraid of reworking our nation’s largest benefits systems – is setting his sights on retirement accounts.
In this week’s address, Obama announced new steps to make it easier for American families to save for retirement. These new initiatives will complement the president’s major legislative proposals to boost participation in IRAs and match retirement savings.
The new initiatives will:
* Expand opportunities for automatic enrollment in 401(k) and other retirement savings plans.
* Make it easier for more than 100 million families to save a portion or all of their tax refunds.
* Enable workers to convert their unused vacation or other similar leave into additional retirement savings.
* Help workers and their employers better understand the available options for tax-favored retirement saving through clear, easy-to-understand language.
“As part of my budget, I’ve proposed ensuring that nearly every American has access to a retirement savings account through his or her job. This plan would make it possible for workers to automatically enroll in IRAs through payroll contributions,” Obama said. “And the budget simplifies and expands a tax credit for millions of families, matching half of a family’s savings up to $1,000 per year and depositing the tax credit directly into a retirement account.”
Hmmm, potentially more employer mandates, eh? What say you, pros?
