Donald M. Payne: “Mr. Speaker, I think the SAVER Act will provide a big first step toward greater awareness about retirement security for…”

“Mr. Speaker, I think the SAVER Act will provide a big first step toward greater awareness about retirement security for all Americans. I want to commend the gentleman from Illinois for his efforts to bring attention to this very important issue that affects millions of Americans. The retirement clock is running out for millions of Americans and their families. After a lifetime of hard work and contributing to and building our society, millions of older Americans have retired and are not prepared for it. They cannot afford to pay their bills. While we have worked closely with the administration to make gains in strengthening protection for plan participants in the last 4 years, we still have miles to go in assuring retirement security for the American worker. Half of all older Americans have incomes of less than $11,300. This is because their incomes are drawn primarily from Social Security, which, on an average, pays $8,460 to retired workers. That is less than today's minimum wage. Very little of their income comes from individual savings. A very alarming picture painted by statistics is that many of the people we need to reach out for are women and minorities.”