Updated EPI Retirement Security Guide: The News Is Dire

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2006/09/10/updated-epi-retirement-security-guide-the-news-is-dire/

Economy

Sep 10

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Updated EPI Retirement Security Guide: The News Is Dire

If you plan to retire anytime soon, you probably know the nation’s retirement security system is in crisis. Half of all workers have no retirement plan at work. And of those who do, only a few have traditional pensions, as employers shift responsibility for retirement saving to workers through 401(k) plans.

But a recent study by Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research shows that the Individual Retirement Accounts and 401(k)s, which the Bush White House and some employers tout as the alternative to pensions, actually return less on their investments than pension investments.

According to the Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI) updated Retirement Security Issue Guide, the retirement situation of U.S. workers is worsening. Unless there are major policy reforms, early baby boomers will be the last generation to have more retirement security than their parents, despite stock market and housing booms.

Social Security will be the only guaranteed source of retirement income for most workers, that is if the Bush administration and its cronies in Congress are prevented from keeping their pledge to privatize Social Security.

FULL story at link above.