Americans Need More Sources of Retirement Income, AARP Tells Congress

We’re urging lawmakers to pass legislation to give people saving for retirement more options — specifically the 55 million Americans who don’t have a way to save for retirement through work.

We sent a letter on Monday to members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, voicing support for certain provisions of the Retirement Improvement and Savings Enhancement to Supplement Healthy Investments for the Nest Egg (RISE & SHINE) Act. Among other things, the bill would shorten the amount of time part-time workers would have to be with their employer to enroll in a workplace retirement plan from three years to two.

“This will be especially helpful to the many older workers who can only find part-time work or need to work part-time due to caregiving responsibilities,” Bill Sweeney, senior vice president for government affairs at AARP, wrote in the letter to lawmakers.

Sweeney also urged lawmakers to support automatic employee enrollment in retirement savings plans at companies with more than 10 workers. Research shows that people are 15 times more likely to save for retirement when they can do so at work, and 20 times more likely to save when automatic enrollment is used. We also called on the Senate to require that retirement plan recipients receive a paper copy of their annual benefits statement, so workers and their families can have a better sense of where they stand financially.

Provisions of the bill are part of a larger AARP-backed retirement package called the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022, which was passed by the House with bipartisan support in March but has not yet been passed by the Senate.

Read our letter to lawmakers, and learn more about planning for retirement.