In Tuesday night’s State of the Union, U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled plans for a new retirement savings account.
It will be called myRA (short for my retirement account), and he called it an affordable “starter” account that will help millions of Americans begin to save for retirement.
“Today, most workers don’t have a pension,” Obama stated. “A social security cheque often isn’t enough on its own. And while the stock market has doubled over the last five years, that doesn’t help folks who don’t have 401(k)s.”
He called myRA a new savings bond that encourages folks to build a nest egg and is guaranteed to provide a decent return with no risk of losing money.
“I’m hopeful that President Obama’s focus on this critical issue will help kick off a much-needed national conversation—a conversation that Congress needs to join—on what must be done to ensure that all Americans have sufficient income to support themselves in retirement,” says BlackRock chairman and CEO Laurence Fink. “This is a responsibility that must be borne not just by government, but by businesses and individuals as well.”
The U.S. Department of the Treasury is expected to announce details about the plan later this week.