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.