nvestysly
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2007
- Messages
- 599
This subject has the potential to get political so I'll post in the FIRE Related Political Topics.
President Obama's State of the Union Address mentioned creating MyRA to allow a greater number of Americans to save for their future.
Here's an excerpt from the President's Address:
Let's do more to help Americans save for retirement. Today, most workers don't have a pension. A Social Security check often isn't enough on its own. And while the stock market has doubled over the last five years, that doesn't help folks who don't have 401ks. That's why, tomorrow, I will direct the Treasury to create a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings: MyRA. It's a new savings bond that encourages folks to build a nest egg. MyRA guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in. And if this Congress wants to help, work with me to fix an upside-down tax code that gives big tax breaks to help the wealthy save, but does little to nothing for middle-class Americans. Offer every American access to an automatic IRA on the job, so they can save at work just like everyone in this chamber can. And since the most important investment many families make is their home, send me legislation that protects taxpayers from footing the bill for a housing crisis ever again, and keeps the dream of homeownership alive for future generations of Americans.
I'm curious to see how this proposal unfolds. My first reaction is anyone with earned income can participate in an IRA and/or a Roth IRA. I presume the MyRA will somehow be different but do we really need another program? I don't know. But my guess is no. In my experience, it's the age old "you can lead a horse to water..." Maybe the new program will attract some number of people to plan for their future. We can only hope so. But I'm frustrated with friends and family that don't save - I suspect MyRA won't change that.
President Obama's State of the Union Address mentioned creating MyRA to allow a greater number of Americans to save for their future.
Here's an excerpt from the President's Address:
Let's do more to help Americans save for retirement. Today, most workers don't have a pension. A Social Security check often isn't enough on its own. And while the stock market has doubled over the last five years, that doesn't help folks who don't have 401ks. That's why, tomorrow, I will direct the Treasury to create a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings: MyRA. It's a new savings bond that encourages folks to build a nest egg. MyRA guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in. And if this Congress wants to help, work with me to fix an upside-down tax code that gives big tax breaks to help the wealthy save, but does little to nothing for middle-class Americans. Offer every American access to an automatic IRA on the job, so they can save at work just like everyone in this chamber can. And since the most important investment many families make is their home, send me legislation that protects taxpayers from footing the bill for a housing crisis ever again, and keeps the dream of homeownership alive for future generations of Americans.
I'm curious to see how this proposal unfolds. My first reaction is anyone with earned income can participate in an IRA and/or a Roth IRA. I presume the MyRA will somehow be different but do we really need another program? I don't know. But my guess is no. In my experience, it's the age old "you can lead a horse to water..." Maybe the new program will attract some number of people to plan for their future. We can only hope so. But I'm frustrated with friends and family that don't save - I suspect MyRA won't change that.