Lessons learned from other countries helped inform the Bipartisan Policy Center's 12-point proposal for improving retirement security in the U.S., Global Future of Retirement conference attendees heard from center officials Tuesday.
The proposal was one of four new initiatives announced at the conference to increase retirement savings.
“We paid close attention to what is happening around the world,” said Kent Conrad, former senator and current co-chair of the center's 19-member Commission on Retirement Security and Personal Savings, at Pensions & Investments' conference.
The commission's proposal, which calls for new, multiple employer retirement plans for small employers, expansion of the federal MyRA program to more employers, tax incentives to increase automatic enrollment and escalation, and strengthening of Social Security, among other measures, could increase retirement savings rates by 50%.
“It represents a very doable set of proposals,” Co-Chairman James B. Lockhart III said. “We need to do something and we need to do something now. It will take people of goodwill to make it happen.”
The report, “Securing Our Financial Future: Recommendations for Retirement Security and Personal Savings” is on BPC's website.