While all eyes are on the midterm election race that will determine control of Congress, important public policy reforms are quietly being made at the executive branch level.
Exhibit A is this week's expansion of association retirement plans (ARP) by the Trump administration's Labor Department. ARPs will extend retirement benefits to small business employees who make up about half of the private sector workforce by allowing them to group together to access similar retirement plans as their big business competitors.
Currently, only 14 percent of small business employees have retirement benefits like 401(k)s. Given that Americans are far more likely to save for retirement if plans are offered through work, this lack of benefits is contributing to a retirement savings crisis. One in three Americans have nothing saved for retirement; more than half have less than $10,000.
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