Lew: Government retirement plan a 'stepping stone' to healthy nest egg

[nitpicker]

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/259529-lew-government-retirement-plan-a-stepping-stone-to-healthy-nest-egg

Lew: Government retirement plan a 'stepping stone' to healthy nest egg

By Peter Schroeder - 11/09/15 11:02 AM EST


Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is touting the government’s efforts to help Americans take the critical step of saving for retirement. In an op-ed published by Yahoo Finance, Lew made the case for the government’s new myRA savings plan, which allows low- and middle-income Americans to begin saving for retirement through government-run accounts. The program, announced by President Obama in his 2014 State of the Union address, has just gone live across the country.
(snip)

The president launched the new savings program as part of a package of policy shifts aimed at closing the gaps between the country’s haves and have nots. Noting that many Americans were lacking sufficient savings for retirement, and that Social Security alone can’t support retired Americans, the White House created a fee-free government savings program that is intended to be as accessible as possible.

Americans can invest in a no-tax savings account for as little as $25 up front, and $5 each month. The program is aimed at working Americans who lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan or other options. The goal of the program is to allow Americans to transfer their government plans to a private-sector program once it has grown in size.

Lew noted that the program carries virtually no risk, since the investments are backed by U.S. government savings bonds, widely seen as the safest investment possible.
(snip)

[eridani]

1. This is a lot like ACA. It will help people. But not those whose expenses--

--consume their incomes entirely, and often then some.

[Demeter]

2. This is total bullshit

It maxes out at $15,000. Enough for half a year of retirement. Then you are back to the same impossible dream.

To retire at a comfortable (not luxurious--no travel or anything) lifestyle, today, you need $1MILLION cold cash earning interest in a safe (if there still is such a thing) bond or CD. You wouldn't want to gamble in stocks at that point (unless you are crazy).

No, this is an excuse to cut social security, nothing more and nothing less.

And as pointed out above, if you can't possibly scrape up anything to save (unless you sell the kids and live in a car), it's pointless.