May. Not enough workers have pension coverage at the same time that overall savings is dangerously low, said Portman. The Commerce Department reports that the personal savings rate is the lowest since the Department began keeping monthly statistics in 1959. For economists who are looking beyond our immediate apparent economic prosperity as a country, this is the most troubling statistic out there. Portman said that expanding access to pensions would be a vital way to increase retirement security and our overall personal savings rate. By taking action to expand pension availability this year, we will help those workers who are most in need of secure retirement savings.
Pensions benefit everyone.
In particular, pensions provide a needed backstop to our Social Security system for lower and middle income workers. A pension makes the difference between retirement subsistence and real retirement security for millions of retirees.