Cantwell Introduces Bill to Help Working Families Save for Retirement
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, today introduced legislation designed to help more working families and middle class Americans save for retirement.
The country is facing a serious retirement crisis with millions of American workers with no pension and nothing saved at all. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, over the next five years taxpayers will contribute over $1 trillion into subsidies for retirement accounts. However, few middle and working class Americans will benefit from this aid due to lack of access to and use of tax advantaged retirement accounts.
“There is an alarming gap between what working and middle class Americans have saved and what they’ll need to meet their basic needs in their retirement years,”said Cantwell. ”Too many Americans have no pension and little to nothing saved for retirement, and the recession and stagnant wage growth of the past decade have only exacerbated this situation. This legislation will provide support for the millions of American workers who struggle to both save for the future and provide for their families today by incentivizing meaningful contributions to their future financial security.”
The bill, the Encouraging Americans to Save Act, will enhance the saver’s credit, a non-refundable tax credit for eligible taxpayers who make contributions to IRAs or employer-sponsored retirement plans, by making it refundable so those without a tax liability also benefit. Additionally the bill would require that the credit amount be contributed directly to a tax-favored retirement plan.
A summary of the bill can be found here. The legislative text can be found here.
The legislation was co-sponsored by Senators Wyden (D-OR), Cardin (D-MD), Brown (D-OH) and Casey (D-PA).
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