Trump attacks retirement accounts for people who dont havethem
President Trump just resurrected a barrier to setting up retirement accounts for the large share of American workers who don’t have them.
A third of Americans in the private sector don’t have access to any kind of retirement account. That stands in stark contrast with public sector workers, 90 percent of whom have access to a retirement plan. It’s those who make the least, and who will most need help saving up for a comfortable old age, who are least likely to have a retirement plan at work. People of color are also less likely than white people to be enrolled in 401(k)s.
In response to this looming problem, state and local governments have started setting up auto-IRA savings accounts for private sector workers. Unless a worker opted out, he would get automatically enrolled in such an account, allowing him to save some of his money for retirement.
But there was a question as to whether these accounts ran afoul of federal law. So in August of last year, President Obama finalized a rule that cleared the way for the establishment of these plans and clarified that they wouldn’t conflict with strict rules that apply to pension and retirement plans. That allowed cities and states to move forward.
Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress recently voted to undo Obama’s protections for cities and counties that set up these accounts. On Thursday, Trump put his signature on it, making it official. A rollback of the protection for state plans could follow, although a number of states are pushing back.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-roll-back-retirement-accounts-9a2c17eb7a81
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