Get monthly data and expert policy recommendations aimed at advancing Americans’ financial security.
Pew’s retirement savings project studies the challenges and opportunities for increasing retirement savings.
The initiative examines federal and state policy efforts to increase retirement plan coverage; studies the feasibility of policies or market practices to help improve retirees’ financial choices and decisions; and works to identify large segments of the contingent workforce that are most likely to want and need an effective retirement savings program.
The project strives to foster policy debate and action on how best to ensure that everyone can save a sufficient amount for retirement.
Among the American workers who struggle most to save for retirement are those in nontraditional jobs, such as the self-employed, sole proprietors, gig workers, and contract workers. Several people with these jobs and a range of policy, business, and financial experts recently took part in a Nontraditional Workers and Retirement Policy Summit to better understand the problems and talk about potential steps to address them.
The Pew Charitable Trusts expressed support today for legislation newly unveiled in the Pennsylvania state House, saying the measure would help approximately 2 million Pennsylvanians secure a stronger financial future.
On Oct. 28, John Scott, director of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ retirement savings project, testified at a U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing, “A Financially Secure Future: Building a Stronger Retirement System for All Americans.”
Most retirement savings are accumulated through workplace plans. Of those savings, more are held in individual retirement accounts (IRAs) than in 401(k)s and other defined contribution accounts, primarily because workers tend to “roll over” their workplace savings into an IRA when they retire or change jobs.
After all the hard work and child rearing, do Americans get to finally relax and retire with some financial stability? Research shows the golden age of retirement doesn’t always shine.
Retirement savings plans such as 401(k)s usually place the responsibility for selecting and managing investments with individual workers. These choices can feel overwhelming for many employees, who may be unsure how much they need to save, have more pressing financial concerns than saving for what feels like a far-off retirement, and often lack the financial resources or educational background to get the information they need to make informed retirement planning choices.
