skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Retirement Security a Focus of State Lawmaker Summit

play audio
Play

Monday, August 3, 2015   

SEATTLE – State legislators from around the country are meeting in Seattle today and one of the topics is how to help people save for retirement.

Both Washington and Oregon have taken steps this year to launch workplace savings plans for employees of small businesses.

At the National Conference of State Legislators Summit, AARP plans to encourage other states to do the same.

Elaine Ryan, AARP vice-president for state advocacy and strategy integration, says her message is that Congress can't be counted on to agree on a national plan, and states have a huge stake in their residents' financial security.

"If we don't help people find a way to save for their own futures, they will end up being a burden to government programs,” she states. “Some of our polling shows that 82 percent of small businesses would offer retirement savings if it were simpler."

Washington's Small Business Retirement Marketplace is being developed now, with a start date of 2017.

Ryan says Illinois was the first state to create such a plan, Connecticut and Minnesota are looking into it, and Utah and Virginia are studying the effects of poverty in retirement.

A related issue is fees and commissions on retirement investments. Starting next week, the U.S. Labor Department takes public comments on a new Conflicts of Interest Rule, with stricter guidelines for financial advisers and insurance agents about acting in their clients' best interest.

Ryan says AARP supports the rule.

"We know those hidden fees erode people's lifetime retirement savings – as much as 25 percent could be lost in your lifetime of savings, to those types of fees," she points out.

The Labor Department says the current guidelines for retirement investment advice were passed in the 1970s, before IRAs or 401K plans had been created.

AARP has set up a Web page for people to comment on the Conflicts of Interest Rule proposal.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021