Gerald Kleczka: “over the next 40 years, the percentage of the U.S. population over 65 will almost double. Unfortunately, at a time when…”

“over the next 40 years, the percentage of the U.S. population over 65 will almost double. Unfortunately, at a time when more and more people should be putting money away for their retirement, personal savings are at historically low levels. Twenty years ago, Americans saved at a rate of about 10 percent, but by last year that rate had plummeted to one-tenth of 1 percent. Americans must become more proactive in saving and planning for their retirement, and the bill before us today provides the incentives to do so. Retirement security has often been described as being like a three-legged stool because people depend on three means of savings for their retirement: one is Social Security; one is personal savings; and another one, a very important one, is employer-provided pensions. H.R. 10 makes great strides in strengthening the footing for the last two of those legs. One of the most important adjustments this bill makes will be to increase the current limit on annual individual retirement account contributions from $2,000 to $5,000 per year. IRAs are one of the principal instruments used for savings, and this increase will make them a much more valuable tool in retirement planning. It has been almost 20 years since the retirement cap was raised, so an adjustment today is long overdue. To make sure that the benefits of IRAs continue to keep pace with the times, this bill will adjust the cap annually to reflect the effects of inflation.”