A significant number of working Americans don’t have access to a retirement plan at work. And we know that those who do – even at very modest incomes – are significantly more likely to save for retirement. How would you close the coverage gap?
There’s some debate over just how many working Americans don’t have access to a retirement plan at work – “more than half” is the number that the uninformed bandy about, but even the arguably more precise estimates indicate that it’s a significant number.
One issue that isn’t much disputed – is that when workers have access to a plan at work, they are much more likely to save – 12 times more likely, in fact.
We also know that the so-called coverage “gap” is predominantly found among smaller employers, and among workers whose ties to the workforce is less “solid” – part-time, part-year, and others beyond ERISA’s reach (too young, or too old). And there are even those who are self-employed who simply haven’t gotten around to setting up their own retirement plan.
There are a number of real and… rational… reasons for this, and at least one that has always struck me as a rationalization (see Why Don’t More Small Employers Offer Retirement Plans?).
But as individuals who are on the front lines of helping solve the challenge of retirement readiness – one employer and one worker at a time – if you had the power (on your own) to implement change to close the coverage gap – what would you do?
There is admittedly no “easy” answer in reality. But give it a shot. After all, you’ve just been given the power to make it happen.
And we’ll wrap it all up – for all of us – on Friday!
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