Close Close
Sign In
Newsletters
Popular Financial Topics Discover relevant content from across the suite of ALM legal publications From the Industry More content from ThinkAdvisor and select sponsors Investment Advisor Issue Gallery Read digital editions of Investment Advisor Magazine Tax Facts Get clear, current, and reliable answers to pressing tax questions
Luminaries Awards
Podcast Center Video Center Webcasts Resource Center Events
About ThinkAdvisor Contact Us Advertise With Us Asset & Logo Licensing Sitemap Terms of Service Privacy Policy Copyright © 2024 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
ThinkAdvisor

Retirement Planning > Saving for Retirement

Voters of Both Parties Clamoring for Retirement Security: Survey

By Michael S. Fischer

X
Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

What You Need to Know

  • Bipartisan momentum is building on Capitol Hill for comprehensive retirement reform.
  • A majority of American voters across the political spectrum agree that retirement security is a problem.
  • Of those without a retirement savings account, 44% said they did not have enough money after expenses to save.

“Bipartisan” isn’t a word you hear a lot on Capitol Hill these days, but a recent flurry of retirement legislation includes major bipartisan proposals.

Momentum is building for comprehensive retirement reform with proposals like the Improving Access to Retirement Savings Act and the Securing a Strong Retirement Act, known as Secure 2.0. Another bill, reintroduced from previous congressional sessions, the Retirement Security & Savings Act, would help small businesses offer 401(k)s and other retirement plans, among other provisions.

How urgent is retirement reform? A new survey from the Economic Innovation Group finds that a big majority of American voters across the political spectrum agree that retirement security is a problem for the country.

Echelon Insights conducted the nationally representative online survey in mid-March among 1,000 registered voters. 

According to the survey, three-quarters of Americans feel confident about their financial futures, but only half are confident that the next generation will be better off.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents reported that they had an IRA or a 401(k), but only 48% said their employer offers a matching contribution. 

Of those without a retirement savings account, 44% said they did not have enough money after expenses to save.

Sixty-seven percent of survey participants said they would have enough savings to live comfortably in retirement, including 78% of African American respondents and 69% of white respondents, but just 44% of Hispanics.

Low-Income Americans

Asked how concerned they felt, if at all, about the ability of low-income Americans to save for the future and about retirement security, 82% in each instance reported that they were somewhat to extremely concerned.

Seventy-seven percent of African Americans in the survey expressed concern about low-income workers’ ability to save for the future, compared with 51% of white respondents. Fifty-eight percent of those under 40 said they were concerned, versus 53% of those older than 40.

Sixty-five percent of African American participants and 54% of those over 40 said retirement security is a problem for the U.S., compared with 49% of white respondents and 47% of those under 40.

Ninety-four percent of Republicans in the survey and 92% of Democrats agreed with this statement: “Social Security alone is not enough for someone to get by in retirement, so Americans need to be able to set aside additional savings in their working years.”

And 92% of Democrats and 91% of Republicans agreed that all working Americans should be able to participate in a retirement savings plan.

There was more divergence by political affiliation on whether Americans should have access to the same retirement savings plan as government employees. Eighty-two percent of Democrats said they should, as did 74% of Republicans.

Policy Proposals

Asked whether they supported several policy proposals, after reading a short description of each one, here’s how survey participants responded:

  • Government/federally matched retirement contributions: support, 55%; unsure, 13%; oppose, 32%.
  • Universal basic income: support, 47%; unsure, 12%; oppose, 42%.
  • Child allowance: support, 41%; unsure, 12%; oppose, 47%.
  • Baby bonds: support, 40%; unsure, 13%; oppose, 47%.

Survey participants were then given a fuller description of the government-matched retirement contributions plan, including several points that indicated its advantages for low- and middle-income workers.

Support for such a plan increased to 63% and opposition fell to 23%, while 14% said they were unsure.

The Economic Innovation Group recently introduced a plan co-authored by a bipartisan pair of economists that would expand access to retirement savings through a program modeled after the federal Thrift Savings Plan for lower-income working Americans, including government-matched retirement contributions.

(Image: Shutterstock)

Michael S. Fischer

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.