III
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 266
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 14, 2011
Mr. Conrad (for himself, Mr. Enzi, and Mr. Cardin) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Finance
October 4, 2011
Committee discharged; considered and agreed to
RESOLUTION
Supporting the goals and ideals of
National Save for Retirement Week
, including raising public
awareness of the various tax-preferred retirement vehicles and increasing
personal financial literacy.
Whereas people in the United States are living longer, and the cost of retirement is increasing significantly;
Whereas Social Security remains the bedrock of retirement income for the great majority of the people of the United States but was never intended by Congress to be the sole source of retirement income for families;
Whereas recent data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute indicates that, in the United States, less than 2/3 of workers or their spouses are currently saving for retirement, and the actual amount of retirement savings of workers is much less than the amount needed to adequately fund their retirement years;
Whereas the financial literacy of workers in the United States is an important factor to workers understanding the true need to save for retirement;
Whereas saving for retirement is a key component to overall financial health and security during retirement years, and the importance of financial literacy in planning for retirement must be advocated;
Whereas many workers may not be aware of their options in saving for retirement or may not have focused on the importance of, and need for, saving for retirement;
Whereas many employees have available to them, through their employers, access to defined benefit and defined contribution plans to assist them in preparing for retirement, yet many of those employees may not be taking advantage of those plans at all or to the full extent allowed by Federal law;
Whereas the need to save for retirement is important even during economic downturns or market declines, which make continued contributions all the more important;
Whereas all workers, including public and private sector employees, employees of tax-exempt organizations, and self-employed individuals, can benefit from increased awareness of the need to develop personal budgets and financial plans that include retirement savings strategies and to take advantage of the availability of tax-preferred savings vehicles to assist workers in saving for retirement; and
Whereas October 16 through October 22, 2011, has been
designated as National Save for Retirement Week
: Now, therefore,
be it
That the Senate—
supports the goals and ideals of
National Save for Retirement Week
, including raising public
awareness of the various tax-preferred retirement vehicles as important tools
for personal savings and retirement financial security;
supports the need to raise public awareness of the availability of a variety of ways to save for retirement which are favored under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and are utilized by many people in the United States, but which should be utilized by more;
supports the need to raise public awareness of the importance of saving adequately for retirement and the continued existence of tax-preferred employer-sponsored retirement savings vehicles; and
calls on the States, localities, schools, universities, nonprofit organizations, businesses, other entities, and the people of the United States to observe National Save for Retirement Week with appropriate programs and activities, with the goal of increasing retirement savings for all people in the United States.