Obama to Unveil Retirement Plan Option in 2017 Budget Proposal

The Obama Administration announced that his 2017 budget proposal would include items President Obama highlighted in his final State of the Union address earlier this month.

The president plans to unveil his proposal on how more employees can have access to retirement plans, a bipartisan concern as currently more than 60% of Americans don’t have access to a retirement plan.

Obama wants to require companies without employee retirement plans to enroll their employees into an IRA, or Individual Retirement Account with a proposed $3,000 tax credit available for those who comply. Part time workers who worked at least 500 hours a year for three years would also be eligible for participation in the plan.

This is a bipartisan concern as currently more than 60% of Americans don’t have access to a retirement plan.

myRA

Meanwhile, most Americans still have never heard of the U.S. Treasury Department’s myRA program (My Retirement Account) that allows participants to invest in Treasury securities through a Roth IRA. Deductions can be made from paychecks, checking or savings accounts, or from federal tax refunds.

The program is open to those with incomes under $131,000; that limit is increased to $193,000 if married and filing jointly. There are no minimum contribution limits and no minimum balance requirements but the maximum contribution is $5,500 per year ($6,500 per year if the contributor will be 50 years of age or older by the end of the year).