Congress created individual retirement accounts (IRAs) with two goals: (1) to provide a retirement savings vehicle for workers without employer-sponsored retirement plans; and (2) to preserve individuals¿ savings in employer-sponsored retirement plans when they change jobs or retire. Questions remain about IRAs¿ effectiveness as a vehicle to facilitate new, or additional, retirement savings. This is a report on: (1) the role of IRAs in retirement savings; (2) the prevalence of employer-sponsored and payroll-deduction IRAs and barriers discouraging employers from offering these IRAs; and (3) changes that are needed to improve IRA information and oversight. Charts and tables.

Congress created individual retirement accounts (IRAs) with two goals: (1) to provide a retirement savings vehicle for workers without employer-sponsored retirement plans; and (2) to preserve individuals¿ savings in employer-sponsored retirement plans. However, questions remain about IRAs¿ effectiveness in facilitating new, or additional, retirement savings. This is a report on: (1) how IRA assets compare to assets in other retirement plans; (2) what barriers may discourage small employers from offering IRAs to employees; and (3) the adequacy of the IRS and the Dept. of Labor¿s oversight of and information on IRAs. The author reviewed reports from gov¿t. and financial industry sources and interviewed experts and fed. agency officials. Illustrations.

Only about half of all workers participate in employer-sponsored retirement plans. To foster greater participation among workers who have access to such plans, Congress passed a law that facilitates plan sponsors' adoption of automatic enrollment policies (AEP). To foster greater retirement savings among workers who do not have access to an employer-sponsored plan, proposals have been made for an "automatic IRA" and at the state level for state-based programs. This report determined: (1) what is known about the effect of AEP among the nation's 401(k) plans, and the extent of and future prospect for such policies; and (2) the potential benefits and limitations of automatic IRA proposals and state-assisted retirement savings proposals. Illus.

As life expectancy increases, the risk that retirees will outlive their assets is a growing challenge. The shift from defined benefit (DB) pension plans to defined contribution (DC) plans also increases the responsibility for workers and retirees to make difficult decisions and manage their pension and other financial assets so that they have income throughout retirement. This report reviewed (1) strategies that experts recommend retirees employ to ensure income throughout retirement, (2) choices retirees have made for managing their pension and financial assets for generating income, and (3) policy options available to ensure income throughout retirement and their advantages and disadvantages. The report interviewed experts about strategies retirees should take; analyzed nationally representative data and studies about retirees' decisions; and interviewed experts and reviewed documents about related policy options. Figures and tables. This is a print on demand report.