myRA®

Financial Literacy and Education Commission Public Meeting

NOVEMBER 18, 2015
2

Introduction and Agenda

Topics:

● About myRA 

● What’s new

● Saver and employer feedback

● How you can engage

● Support for you

myRA | my Retirement Account | U.S. Department of the Treasury
Too many people aren’t saving

Millions of Americans aren't saving – 

 or aren't saving enough for retirement

• According to a 2015 Federal Reserve Report, 31 percent of nonretired individuals said they have no retirement savings or pension 

whatsoever. 

• Among workers who do not participate in a 401(k) or other defined 

contribution plan, 42 percent say it’s because their employer does 

not offer one. 

myRA can help people start saving

myRA | my Retirement Account | U.S. Department of the Treasury 3
Saving with myRA is...

4

myRA | my Retirement Account | U.S. Department of the Treasury 4

 No cost to open and no 

fees 

 Savers contribute an 

amount they choose ($2, 

$20, $200 – whatever fits 

their budget!)2

 Savers can enjoy the tax 

advantages this type of 

investment brings2

 No risk of losing 

money

 The investment is 

backed by the U.S. 

Treasury 

 The account safely 

earns interest1

 Savers can set up 

automatic 

contributions

 If changing jobs, the 

account stays with the 

saver 

 Savers can withdraw 

money they put in 

(contributions) without 

tax and penalty1

1

Interest earned can be withdrawn without tax and penalty five years after your first contribution if you are over age 59 1/2 or meet certain other conditions, such as using the funds for the 

purchase of your first home. Accounts earn interest at the same rate as investments in the Government Securities Fund, which had an average annual return of 3.19% over the ten-year 

period ending December 2014.

2Annual and lifetime contribution limits and annual earned income limits apply, as do conditions for tax-free withdrawal of earnings. Limits listed are for 2015 and may be adjusted annually 

for cost-of-living increases. To learn about key features of a Roth IRA and for other requirements and details, go to myRA.gov/roth-ira.
What’s new: expanded funding options for savers

Three ways to contribute to your myRA account

myRA | my Retirement Account | U.S. Department of the Treasury 5

Partner organizations are key to myRA’s success

myRA | my Retirement Account | U.S. Department of the Treasury 7
myRA messaging in partner communications

Resource page links

8

Blog posts to members

Original materials 

for distribution

myRA | my Retirement Account | U.S. Department of the Treasury
Engage and connect on myRA via social media 

On October 12, Young 

Invincibles hosted a 

#MillennialMon Twitter chat with 

the National Urban League

about financial security for 

millennials and myRA.

9

2.6 million impressions 

generated from 352 Twitter 

mentions by 54 users, 

including Doorways to 

Dreams and CFED.

myRA | my Retirement Account | U.S. Department of the Treasury
Conferences and events 

• myRA presentation, panel 

discussion or keynote

• Webinar

• PowerPoint slides and 

talking points

• Materials distribution 

support

Social 

media 

posts

Exhibit booth 

myRA | my Retirement Account | U.S. Department of the Treasury 10
Other ideas to share myRA

Web button on home page

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• E-blast Original research and materials

• Teach myRA in your financial 

literacy curriculum 

• Share e-newsletter content 

(social posts, newsletter articles 

and more with your members, 

affiliates, stakeholders and 

those you serve)

myRA | my Retirement Account | U.S. Department of the Treasury
Refreshed website: myRA.gov 

myRA | my Retirement Account | U.S. Department of the Treasury 12
New look, new content

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• Flyer

• Poster

• At-a-glance graphic

• Videos

• Newsletter articles

• Fact sheet

• Top questions

• Employee meeting toolkit:

▪ Intranet content

▪ Presentation to employees

▪ Email templates

▪ Key facts

Materials are available on myRA.gov

myRA | my Retirement Account | U.S. Department of the Treasury 13
Key times to share myRA messages 

myRA | my Retirement Account | U.S. Department of the Treasury 14
Thank you! 

Please visit myRA.gov for more information or email us at 

myRA@treasury.gov. 
Results from the 

Financial Management Survey

Leandro Carvalho, Arie Kapteyn & Htay-Wah Saw

*This project was funded by the Social Security 

Administration (SSA), Health and Human 

Services (HHS), and Society of Actuaries (SOA)
The Financial Management Survey

In 2012 the Federal Reserve Board conducted an online survey – the 

Older Adult Survey – to study the financial lives of older U.S. adults

The Older Adult Survey was originally fielded online using the RAND 

American Life Panel (ALP) with participants age 40 and older

Since December of 2012 the American economy has steadily 

recovered from the Great Recession

In April of 2015 we fielded the Financial Management Survey in the 

University of Southern California’s (USC) Understanding America 

Study to investigate how the financial lives of Americans have changed 

with the recovery
The Understanding America Study (UAS)

USC’s Understanding America Study (UAS) is an Internet panel with 

~2,500 respondents 18 and over living in the U.S.

About twice a month respondents receive an email with a request to 

visit the UAS site and complete a questionnaire

Panel members are recruited through address-based sampling

Respondents without Internet access at the time of recruitment are 

provided tablets and Internet access

A lot of information on panel members: numeracy, financial literacy, 

personality traits, core HRS instrument, risk aversion, etc.
In the last 3 years, did you retire or 

did you do any planning for your retirement?

18-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ All

Yes 8% 16% 22% 40% 12% 17%

No 91% 84% 78% 60% 88% 87%

Number of respondents 447 264 326 219 128 1,384

Notes: Asked of all respondents. “In the last 3 years, did you retire or do planning for your retirement?” 
In preparing for retirement, whom did you ask for advice?

18-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ All

Didn't ask for advice 30% 20% 10% 29% 41% 24%

Spouse/partner 38% 52% 38% 36% 19% 38%

Other family member 18% 45% 19% 13% 13% 20%

Caregiver who is not a family 

member 1% 3% 0% 0% 0% 1%

Employer 16% 9% 24% 18% 0% 16%

Banker 0% 3% 3% 3% 11% 3%

Financial advisor 37% 39% 43% 39% 32% 39%

Attorney 0% 2% 7% 7% 0% 5%

Friend 4% 26% 17% 18% 9% 15%

Community group/Counseling 

agency 1% 0% 3% 3% 0% 2%

Other 5% 0% 6% 8% 4% 6%

Number of respondents 44 42 84 103 19 292

Notes: Asked of all respondents who retired or planned to retire in the past 3 years.
Does your retirement planning consider the following?

18-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ Total

Ability to pay your bills in the longer 

term

72% 73% 73% 70% 79% 72%

How inflation will increase your 

expenses

56% 72% 55% 65% 61% 62%

Support for your spouse after your death 39% 45% 31% 42% 32% 39%

How you can cope with a major illness 44% 44% 50% 55% 67% 51%

How you can cope with a long stay in a

nursing home

28% 32% 27% 40% 53% 35%

None of the above 19% 15% 15% 14% 21% 16%

Number of respondents 39 40 83 101 17 280

Notes: Asked of all respondents who retired or planned for retirement in the past 3 years. “Does your retirement plan consider?”
Who managed your investments last year?

18-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ All

I don't have any investments 63% 46% 42% 46% 35% 50%

I managed my investments myself 23% 32% 28% 22% 38% 27%

Friend(s)/family member(s) 4% 2% 3% 2% 0% 3%

Professional(s) 12% 22% 26% 31% 34% 21%

Caregiver who is not a family member 

(specify)

1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Number of respondents 447 265 326 219 129 1,386

Notes: Asked of all respondents. “If you have any investments, please tell us who managed your investments in the last year.”
Compared to 5 Years Ago, How Confident Do You Feel in 

Your Ability to Make Fin. Decisions?
Named Someone to Make Fin. Decisions for You?
Named someone to decide on health care needs if unable to?

18-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ All

Yes 33% 57% 53% 68% 83% 51%

No 67% 43% 47% 32% 16% 49%

Number of respondents 448 265 326 219 129 1,387

Notes: Asked of all respondents. “Have you named someone to decide on your health care needs if you are unable to do it so 

yourself?” 
Summary

A fifth of respondents in their 50s had planned for retirement in the past 

3 years

In preparing for retirement, a quarter did not seek advice. 4 in 10 asked 

advice from a financial advisor

Among those with investments, half managed the investments 

themselves and 4 in 10 sought advice from a professional

The evidence suggests that respondents may be overconfident about 

their decision-making capabilities as they age

As a consequence, half of the 70+ group had assigned a PoA
Home-Secured Debt
Credit Card Debt 
A Snapshot of Investor Households

in America

FLEC Meeting

November 18, 2015

Gary Mottola, Ph.D.
 Slide 31

Copyright 2015 

FINRA Investor Education Foundation

Investor Households in America

Taxable 

Accounts

33%

Only 

Retirement 

Accounts

29%

No Accounts

38%

Nearly 4 in 10 households do not own an investment account
 Slide 32

Copyright 2015 

FINRA Investor Education Foundation

Investment Status by Household Composition

46% 36%

25% 19%

32%

35%

22% 26%

21% 29%

54% 55%

0%

100%

Married w/o

Dependents

Married w/

Dependents

Single w/o

Dependents

Single w/

Dependents

Taxable Accounts Only Retirement Accounts No Accounts

Married households are more likely to own taxable investments
 Slide 33

Copyright 2015 

FINRA Investor Education Foundation

Investment Status by Race

46%

36%

25% 22%

28%

29%

27% 30%

26% 35%

48% 48%

0%

100%

Asian White Hispanic Black

Taxable Accounts Only Retirement Accounts No Accounts

Blacks and Hispanics trail Asians and whites in 

investment account ownership
 Slide 34

Copyright 2015 

FINRA Investor Education Foundation

Factors Related to Taxable Account Ownership

-15% -10% -5% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Too Much Debt

Black

Hispanic

Dependents

Married

Asian

Risk Tolerance

Age (10-Yr)

High Financial Literacy

College Degree

Income > $50K

Racial differences persist even

after controlling on key factors
 Slide 35

Copyright 2015 

FINRA Investor Education Foundation

Key Takeaways

 A large segment of American households does not own any 

investment accounts

 Investment account ownership is associated with a number of 

demographic variables—even after controlling on important factors

 Financial literacy is positively associated with investment account 

ownership—but the nature of the relationship is not clear

 What about gender?

 What can be done to increase investment account ownership?
Supporting Federal Employee 

Investment: Department of 

Defense and Social and 

Behavioral Sciences Team TSP 

Pilots

Will Tucker, Social and Behavioral Sciences 

Team (SBST)

11/18/2015
SBST: Who We Are

• Cross-agency group of applied behavioral scientists.

• Mission: translate findings and methods from the 

social and behavioral sciences into improvements in 

Federal policies and programs for the benefit of the 

American people. 

• Chaired by the Office of Science and Technology 

Policy (OSTP); 

includes representation from over a dozen agencies, 

as well as offices within the Executive Office of the 

President. 
Military Investing in TSP: Motivation

• Civilian Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Participation: 

~87.5%

• Military Servicemember TSP Participation: 

~42%

• Financial readiness of Servicemembers: key priority 

of Department of Defense
Pilot One: Email Outreach

~808,000 Servicemembers not enrolled in TSP (~58% 

of active duty)

Randomly assigned to one of ten groups: a no-email 

control and nine email groups
Results: Percent of Servicemembers 

Newly Enrolled

1.14%

1.56%

1.91%

2.10%

0.0%

0.5%

1.0%

1.5%

2.0%

2.5%

No Email Website

Message

Avg of

Treatment

Top

Treatment
Pilot One: Key Takeaways

1. Impact: As a result of pilot there are 5,000+ 

Servicemembers newly investing, more than $1.3 

mm in contributions in the first month alone

2. Lessons: 

• Top performing: long term benefits; clear action steps

• Lowest performing: sending website information

• Positive factors: clear action steps, simulating choice, long 

term benefits

• No effect: intermediate term tax benefits

• Small negative effect: fresh start (tax season)

3. Scale-Up: DOD will be sending out targeted 

messages to unenrolled Servicemembers informing 

of opportunities to invest in TSP going forward
Pilot Two: Prompting 

Choice
Prompted Choice
Prompted Choice: Percent Newly 

Enrolled

4.34

8.71

2.88 2.91

COMPARISON PERIOD PILOT PERIOD

Pilot Base Comparison Bases
Pilot Two: Key Takeaways

1. Creating a Moment of Choice & Action: Investing 

is easy to put off, or delay decisions and follow up.

2. Make it Easy.

3. More to be Done: 300,000+ Servicemembers

undergo permanent change of duty station (PCS) 

each year.
For more information: 

william.tucker@gsa.gov
0.000%

0.500%

1.000%

1.500%

2.000%

2.500%

3.000%

3.500% Army Air Force Navy Marines All