In a recent opinion piece, the editor’s at Bloomberg expressed strong opinions about the shortcomings of America’s retirement system and what Congress needs to do fix these problems.
The editors wrote, “The U.S. has never squarely considered how best to encourage people to supplement their expected Social Security payments and set aside enough for old age. For much of the 20th century, the government left the issue mostly to employers, which offered pension benefits to long-serving workers. People today often look upon such defined-benefit plans as a sort of gold standard of retirement security, an attribute of a gentler, more benevolent time.”
Eventually the 401(k) replaced the pension as the go-to retirement savings option, but even it has flaws. “More than a third of workers — more than 50 million people — don’t even have access to a 401(k) or other so-called defined-contribution plan,” says Bloomberg. “Of those who do, more than a quarter don’t participate. Most of the rest contribute too little and achieve poor returns, thanks to high fees and the daunting complexities of managing their own money.”
Legislators keep trying to address the flaws with tweaks, such as the SECURE Act, adopted in 2019, and a sequel now under consideration. These proposals don’t go far enough, says Bloomberg. Read the full article to learn what Bloomberg says needs to happen.
