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Can We Raise the Retirement Bar? Print E-mail

Cracked EggLet’s hope so. This month, NIRS held its inaugural policy conference, “Raising the Bar:  Policy Solutions for Improving Retirement Security” in Washington, D.C. to examine just this issue.

This conference brought together some 175 retirement leaders from coast to coast.  What we heard across the board is that we face a retirement crisis in America.  Far too many Americans are feeling the bottom falling out from under them.

The February 2010 "Special Edition" of Noteworthy from NIRS provides an overview of the retirement crisis discussions at our inaugural policy conference.  We heard a broad array of views  – from Democrats, Republicans, the financial community, academics, experts, think tanks, employer and employee groups, the public sector and private sector. 

Our intent was to bring together these varied interests and segments together not to just rehash the hurdles and state of affairs.  But, to look at what does work and what is a pragmatic, attainable path forward.  That is, what does an effective and efficient 21st century retirement structure look like?  And what are the policy steps that will get us there? 

These are not easy questions given the complexities and inadequacies of our current retirement system.  But the good news is that we heard no shortage of concrete proposals.  For example: 

  • improving transparency in 401(k) plans;
  • creating better ways for employees to convert retirement savings to lifetime income streams;
  • using automatic IRAs to expand coverage;
  • developing public-private partnerships;
  • creating a new platform for delivery of benefits;
  • re-thinking retirement tax incentives; and
  • providing breathing room for pension plan sponsors to navigate beyond the economic turmoil of the past year.
We also consistently heard that despite some differences in perspective, ensuring older Americans can be self-sufficient in retirement is a policy objective that all stakeholders can embrace. 

In the coming weeks, NIRS will issue a conference report outlining the conference findings.  We hope this inaugural conference and report are only the first step for NIRS to engage in a process to raise the retirement bar so that all Americans maintain a decent standard of living after a lifetime of work.

We thank everyone involved for making the conference a success – NIRS members, speakers, and attendees.   Stay tuned.

Posted by: Beth Almeida, NIRS Executive Director, February 22, 2010