Despite what you'll continue to hear during the pre-election cycle, America's employees are indeed deeply vested in workplace retirement plans, with only more growth on the horizon.
ASPPA has released a new information package outlining "the real facts on 401(k) plans," which contains some stats giving further weight to the importance of the popular defined contribution mechanism.
It's also a clear statement on the organization's behalf showing concern that the Obama administration's proposed changes to tax structures for retirement planning could indeed backfire and lead to less participation by lower-income workers.
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Among those:
- 78 percent of full-time workers have access to a retirement plan, as do 39 percent of part-time workers
- The vast majority of participants in defined contribution plans have family incomes below $100,000 a year
- Retirement plans benefit low- and moderate-income workers ($30,000 to $50,000 per year); less than five percent of workers without a workplace plan save for their own retirement.
- The defined contribution plan system is significantly more progressive than the federal income tax system, with 62 percent of tax incentives received by families earning less than $100,000.
- Proposals to reduce incentives would signficantly hurt workers with modest incomes; workers 35 and under could expect 14 percent less savings at retirement if their contributions are limited.
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