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Savings for Life: The Pathway to Financial Security for All Americans
January 1, 2007
Financial Security Program
Aspen IFS joined leaders from the financial services industry and nonprofit sector at a press conference to release our report, “Savings for Life: A Pathway to Financial Security for All Americans,” on Thursday, May 3 at 12:00 p.m. at the United States Capitol, Room HC-8. Reps. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Philip English (R-PA), Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) participated, and Congressmen Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) and Tom Petri (R-WI) served as honorary hosts of the event. Watch the video.
Savings for Life features a series of policy recommendations for increasing financial security for all Americans – across income levels, and at every stage of life. It is the culmination of more than two years of a groundbreaking, bipartisan collaboration with CEOs from the financial services sector and public policy experts to identify market-based strategies for more Americans to save, invest and own.
The report’s proposals include four innovative savings vehicles: Child Accounts (modeled on the United Kingdom’s Child Trust Fund); Home Accounts (to be used for the down payment on a home); America’s IRA (a standardized, simple IRA with a government match for working Americans without access to employer-based retirement plans); and Security “Plus” Annuities (basic life annuities to provide an additional layer of lifetime, guaranteed income as a complement to Social Security).